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Anti-work mode
In this article, Aude Fellay examines critiques of work in fashion, and of work more broadly, in the light of the concept of 'the refusal of work', and the call for it, as formulated by the American researcher and anti-work activist Kathi…
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Fashion's Political Turn
Interview with Fashion Journalist Mélody Thomas for the Front Row Podcast
The HEAD – Genève welcomed journalist Mélody Thomas during its traditional open doors for an interview on her book La Mode est politique : Un bref lexique inclusif (2022). The meeting was recorded and gave rise to an episode of the Front Row…
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What's with the Gimmick?
Drawing on Sianne Ngai’s Theory of The Gimmick: Aesthetic Judgment and Capitalist Form (2020), this essay examines the reception of fashion collective Vetements through the lens of the gimmick, discussing the label’s infamous DHL t-shirt as a…
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Mode et anthropologie : chassé-croisé autour de la question du travail
Giulia Mensitieri conducted a field survey on the working conditions in fashion, demonstrating how the image of luxury masks and justifies the precarious reality of workers. In this in-depth interview, Aude Fellay and Emilie Meldem discuss their own…
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Fashion studies
Conversation with researcher and Vestoj magazine founder Anja Aronowsky Cronberg
In the spring of 2021, the Fashion Department invited Anja Aronowsky Cronberg to talk to students about her experience as the editor of the magazine Vestoj. Cronberg was a pioneer in developing an academic theoretical approach without denying…
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Sustainability Revisited
MA in Fashion and Accessory Design Thesis by Tara Mabiala
In her Fashion and Accessory Design Master’s thesis, Tara Mabiala tackles the question of sustainability in fashion through an affective and political approach. Instead of focusing on an optimisation of production modes and raw materials, Mabiala takes…
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The Fashion Show at the Heart of Debate
The recent climate change protests have affected the Fashion Weeks. The event in Stockholm was cancelled, while it was symbolically buried by the Extinction Rebellion activists in London. In other words, it may be time for fashion shows to turn a new…