Dress Devolution

Call for Papers: Dress Devolution

The Fashion and Textiles Institute at Falmouth University, July 6-7 2023

For centuries, metropolitan centres have drawn the focus of the material culture and narratives associated with dress and textiles, creating an often urban-centric discourse. In these traditional discourses, ‘fashion’ is disseminated from these urban hubs and radiates outwards to the provinces and peripheries. Whilst mass manufacture of textiles and garments might have taken place elsewhere, the creative, conceptual and intellectual roots of taste were arguably perceived as a metropolitan endeavour. Joanne Finkelstein expanded on this in Chic Theory (1997) when she wrote: ‘The emphasis that city life gives to appearances concentrates attention on the fashionable.’ This is undeniably true across a range of historical contexts and urban spaces continue, justifiably, to operate as melting pots of design and culture. This can, however, suggest that anything beyond the urban centre is, ergo, UN-fashionable.

In light of shifting perspectives relating to sustainable practices, disrupted supply chains during the pandemic and an evolving employment market, it is time to reframe notions of the geographies of creativity. The term ‘provincial’ evolved over time from simply physical geography to something more pejorative. From its original definition of a person coming from a province, it offered a shorthand to describe an outlook that was limited, lacking in urban polish and narrow. But for the countless creatives whose content derives from provincial settings, it seems timely to explore these new design geographies.

We seek scholars from across the spectrum of fashion, textile and costume studies to explore themes around the de-centring of language, geographies and practices. The conference is supported by the Fashion and Textile Institute at Falmouth University and will take place at the university’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall, UK.

We ask for your proposals for 30 minute presentations on themes that might include but are not limited to:

·      Digital tools for remote creativity

·      Local creative hubs

·      Rural textile initiatives

·      Small scale production

·      The provincial entrepreneur

·      Circular production

·      Local supply chains

·      The reclaiming of traditional techniques for modern markets

·      De-centring fashion language

·      Redefinitions of what it is to be fashionable

·      New fashion geographies

·      Online creative communities

·      Sub culture and communities

Please send a 300 word abstract and brief bio by Monday 13 March to kate.strasdin@falmouth.ac.uk