Enclothed Knowledges: Practice-Based Fashion Research Network

This project will develop an international network which maps and interrogates the value, knowledge, and methodological innovations brought to fashion studies through practice-based research. Through a partnership between Northumbria University and Parsons, The New School (New York) and a series of collaborative knowledge exchange activities between an international cohort of practice-based researchers, activists museum and industry professionals, the project asks how methodologies of making, wearing, and performing can expand upon existing research practices in fashion studies and, in turn, broaden access to and participation in the field.

At a point when both fashion studies and the fashion industry are at critical points of change and must confront the environmental impacts and systemic biases which underscore the fashion industry, the central aim of this research network is to explore what practice-based research can do: how research through practice can address and develop innovative solutions to challenges facing fashion and the field.

The past two decades have seen an expansion of practice-based research in fashion studies, as indicated by the growing number of practice-based doctoral and masters programs. Current practice-based research in fashion studies encompasses a breadth of methodologies and thematic concerns. E.g., Sampson (2020) explores how wearing can uncover sensory relationships to dress, and Valle Noronha (2020) the agency of materials in fashion design and education, Davidson (2019) how remaking historic garments can expand understanding of historical dress, whilst de Greef (2020) looks at how curatorial practice can decentre western understandings of fashion.

Yet, there is no network for this emergent area of the field, and practice-based researchers often face barriers to sharing their work through traditional routes. Building on the P-I and Co-I's current activities (Fashion Research Network, Fashion Studies) and publications (Sampson 2023, Barry 2023) this new network explores the diversity of methodologies used and knowledges produced through fashion practice and asks how these methods can address systemic issues in fashion.

Network Activities: Over 18 months, the network will map current fashion practice-based research, identifying themes, commonalities and opportunities for further collaboration. Through a combined recruitment strategy of invitation and an open call, the network will recruit ten established and early career scholars from the global north and south who utilise different practice-based methods to study fashion.

Project activities will comprise four workshops (two in-person and two online), each addressing a key theme and perceived risk in practice-based research: epistemologies, methodologies, rigour and dissemination. Over the course of the workshops participants will develop a practice-based project and write a reflective chapter which outlines their methods and the innovations and knowledge that their work produces.

Central to this process will be the development of an open and iterative peer-review model, ensuring both transparency and rigour. In addition, each workshop will invite two stakeholders from the fashion industry and museum sector, instigating discussion around benefits that practice-based fashion research can bring to fashion and cultural industries and providing openings for further collaboration.

Project outcomes will be shared through a symposium (Newcastle) and an exhibition (New York), an edited volume, and journal article co-authored by the PI and Co-I sharing the new peer review model. Through its multi-strand dissemination strategy, the network will highlight the benefits that practice-based research brings to fashion studies and the broader fashion and cultural industries.

After dissemination activities, a review of network activity will inform the future direction of the network, identifying new participants and emerging themes.