Deaccelerating Fast Fashion
Deaccelerating Fast Fashion with Young People
Lead Supervisor: Kiera Vaclavik
Degree Programme: PhD Comparative Literature
Co-Supervisor:
Megan Clinch (Wolfson Institute of Population Health)
Project Description
Clothing behaviours and attitudes have changed exponentially in the last century, with consumers of all ages being taught to waste. More recent efforts to recalibrate via recycling of clothing have been unsuccessful as have policies that encourage clothing reuse and repair. Children and young people specifically are both active participants in the environmentally catastrophic fast fashion machine and its (future) victims. Effective responses to the climate impacts of fast fashion need to be child led and centred and require fuller understanding of these complex and contradictory dynamics.
Set in the London Boroughs of Hackney and/or Tower Hamlets and using a blend of archival research and participatory methodologies, this project explores the clothing practices of children, and those who clothe them, between the ages of 0-18. Examining how notions of the pristine and experiences of shame and pride shape clothing choices and communicate personal identity, cultural heritage and sense of belonging, this project will seek to better understand the relationship of children and young people to fast fashion and therefore the possibilities for clothing reuse and repair.
The PhD starts with archival research using the Mass Observation Archive to generate an understanding of historic attitudes, practices and behaviours pertaining to re-use, repair, and remaking in the immediate postwar period in Britain. The archival research will then be synthesised with literature on fast fashion to inform a series of workshops to generate research questions and a participatory research design with children and their families. Methods such as multi-modal ethnography, which encourages inclusive public participation and the collection of multi-sensorial data (e.g. objects, images, sounds etc.) will be used. Study findings will generate interventions to encourage clothing reuse and repair amongst children and their families, e.g. education materials and campaigns.
What we're looking for in a student
We expect applicants to hold a BA and MA or relevant equivalent experience in an arts or humanities subject (ideally in the fields of childhood studies, fashion studies, cultural history, anthropology or similar), with proven ability to design and conduct research projects, and to present findings in written and other forms. The student will receive (supplementary) training in archival research and with co-creative, participatory methods. The student will have access to the Centre for Civic & Public Engagement, the East End Research Network and the Youth Insights Participatory Research Toolkit.
Key words: fast fashion, young people, lived experience, consumption