The Transformative Power of Practice-Based Fashion Research

The advent of the twenty-first century ushered in a new generation of fashiondesigners who merge design, artistic practice and research in a natural way. Theyuse artistic and activist interventions to revision fashion as a cultural and symbolicvalue-adding component integral to post-industrial restructuring and repositioningit as a much broader and more significant role than as an industry that makes andsells apparel (Craik 2019: 133). This generation is not necessarily operating fromfashion capitals such as London or Paris, but quite often based in the outskirts ofthe fashion areas (such as Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden or Austria). Beingaware of the social and environmental issues and the failures of the current fashionsystem, they are fundamentally rethinking and redefining the fashion system byimplementing new values and new imaginations approaching fashion design asan embodied practice and as an activist tool (Bourriaud 2009: 51–52; Teunissen2005: 8–23; Teunissen 2014: 12–72). Based on the research for the exhibitionsThe Future of Fashion in Now (2014) and State of Fashion (2018) – where I showcased these ground-breaking designers – I would like to draw and define this ‘newhybrid designer’ and highlight how they as activists and practitioners effectivelycontribute to some of the fundamental changes of the current fashion system(Teunissen 2018).