FASHION AND CAPITALISM: REWRITE OUR RELATIONSHIPS TO CLOTHES

Fashion is a complex, global machine that operates within the wider structures of capitalism, imperialism and patriarchy. A lot of us are aware of this fact in abstract terms, but what does that actually mean? And how can we begin to understand this system, so that we can better understand our place in the fight to dismantle it?

Facilitated by researchers from QUT’s TextileR research group and fashion writer & community organiser Samantha Haran, this hands-on workshop will unravel the politics of the fashion industry by examining and sorting through discarded second-hand garments. Through the radical act of garment storytelling, we will begin to consider how the global fashion industry draws people, especially women, into connection with one another. This workshop invites you to consider how ordinary, everyday items of clothing can help us think through the complex social relations along fashion global supply chains.

Please note: this workshop has limited capacity. Keep an eye out for the registration form to secure your spot!

QUT’s TextileR Research Group Website

Headshot of Alice Payne

Alice Payne (she/her)

Dr Alice Payne is an Associate Professor in Fashion in the School of Design, Queensland University of Technology and co-lead of the research group TextileR: Future Textile Industries.

 
headshot of Paige Street

Paige Street (she/her)

Paige Street is a senior research assistant and sessional academic in fashion at School of Design at the Queensland University of Technology. Her research considers how responsibility for structural injustice is understood and performed in the fashion industry, especially how these practices intersect with gender, race and privilege. 

 

Kath Horton (she /her)

Kath Horton is a Design Educator and Researcher in Fashion at the School of Design, Queensland University of Technology. 

 
Headshot of Shaneen Page

Shaneen Page (she/her)

Shaneen Page is a masters candidate at QUT, in the School of Design and the Digital Media Research Centre. Her work focuses on Gen Z’s reclamation of handwork, and how they use the internet to discover craft and connect with each other in a post-lockdown world.

 

Samantha Haran (she/her)

Samantha Haran is a freelance culture & fashion writer and co-founder & community organizer at The Resistance. In her writing, she is interested in exploring fashion and culture through an anti-capitalist, decolonial and abolitionist lens. She has previous by-lines in Teen Vogue, Paper Magazine & Fashion and Race Database, amongst others.