Close to Home / Made in the UK

The first meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ethics and Sustainability in Fashion, convened by Baroness Lola Young. The meeting explored the contribution that forward thinking UK fashion and textile businesses make to local economies, communities and the environment. Baroness Lola Young, Dr Frances Corner OBE (Head of the London College of Fashion) and Martin Buttle (Supply Chain Manager at MADE-BY) started the meeting with opening remarks and introductions. Dr Kate Fletcher (Reader at the Centre for Sustainable Fashion) expanded on the Close to Home/Made in the UK theme. Five shirt presentations followed from UK manufacturers/brands involved in fashion, textiles and footwear: Christopher Raeburn, Dashing Tweeds, Tender Denim, Ardalanish Isle of Mull Weavers and John Smedley. Ruth Potts (New Economics Foundation) then talked about sustaining local economies and economic well-being. A discussion followed with questions and commentary from the audience, who represented a wide cross section of the industry including high street retailers, press, fashion designers and international organisations. Through the sharing of experiences, personal journeys, discoveries, traditions, technologies and crafts, many of the joys, pains, challenges and opportunities for UK fashion manufacturing where explored. A momentum to keep building. A feeling of positivity and urgency. A debate to be continued. Actions for now and the future we create. There was also a Local Wisdom project underway, to record and celebrate the clothes we wear and the ways in which we wear them. Participants shared the story of their clothing and had their portraits taken wearing it in the Westminster Great Hall

Drawing the line : the effects of the changes in higher education on the subject of fine art

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Identifying the Core in the Subject of Fine Art

My research explores the interface between educational policy, government directives, developments in the subject discipline and the teaching and learning of the subject itself. This paper had as its base a chapter in my D.Phil thesis “Drawing the Line: The Effects of The Changes in Higher Education on the Subject of Fine Art”. This paper explored the main characteristics of fine art and how its elements combine to create a distinctive learning environment. Taking the premise that fine art encourages the development of individual artistic practice and enables individual students to articulate and define the contexts they work within, this paper considered how fine art students come to develop their particular ways of thinking, seeing and conceptualising. Referencing the Art and Design Subject Benchmark statements the paper argued that in fine art education, a set of principles, core characteristics, skills and abilities are combined to create a learning environment that gives its graduates a set of abilities that are particularly relevant to contemporary society. Its distinction from existing work (Walker 2000, Payne 2000, Hillier 1996) is its analysis. Achieved through interviews with key representatives from across the fine art education sector, factors such as expansion, excellence and equity were set against teaching and learning methods, curriculum content and needs of students. This formed the basis for recommendations for the future of fine art and understanding of how a subject is constructed and adjusts to external pressures. The research thereby contributes to the analysis of fine art and furthering pedagogic research. Scrutinised by the editorial board and indirectly as part of my D.Phil, the paper can be seen as part of the iJADE publication series. Abstract This paper explores the basis and main characteristics of fine art as a subject discipline and looks at how these elements combine to create a distinctive and in many ways unique learning environment. Taking the premise that fine art as a subject discipline is concerned with encouraging the development of individual artistic practice and enabling the student to articulate and define the social and cultural context that they are working within, this paper considers how fine art students come to develop alternative ways of thinking, seeing and conceptualising. Referring to the Art and Design Subject Benchmark statements the paper argues that in a fine art education, a set of principles, core characteristics, skills and abilities are combined to create a unique learning environment that gives its graduates a set of abilities that are particularly relevant to our complex society

The Politics of Fashion

This paper highlighted the range of issues facing fashion industry and fashion educators in the first half of the 21st century, including climate change, ethical working conditions and the broader pressures of globalisation and the media

Utopia or Dystopia: Fashion Health and Well-Being

This paper explored the issues facing the fashion industry as it faces up to climate change and the need for us as humans to balance the biological with the cultural

What to teach? Qualitative Research into Fine Art Undergraduate Programmes

The presentation and the paper explored the research structure and methodology for a qualitative study into a subject discipline and reflected part of a broader body of research investigating the changes taking place in Higher Education, notably, the Government’s agenda of expansion, excellence and equity and the implications for a subject discipline such as fine art. The current structure of a fine art education (NAFAE 1996) was set against policy documents (Dearing 1997, Fryer 1997, DfEE 1999) and referenced against research that looked at the philosophy and practice of fine art education (Abbs 1997, Allison 1982, Reid 1969 and 1986, Hillier 1996) to investigate how courses were adjusting to the expansion of Higher Education. The stages of the research notably, the literature review, a potential definition of fine art, current status of fine art courses, research questions, interview structure, initial findings and possible recommendations were set out. This demonstrated how a series of perspectives were elicited, how external pressures are affecting a fine art education, concerns as to whether fine art as a subject in its current configuration had a future, and how fine art educators might draw a line against the effects of the massification of Higher Education. External scrutiny was involved in the presentation and conference publication. Its significance is that it sets out how qualitative research in art and design can be structured to reflect the needs of a subject discipline and this in turn has helped further pedagogic research in art and design, a developing area. Abstract Questions about how fine art courses have adapted to the higher education agenda of expansion as well as the requirements to maintain excellence and increase equality of opportunity, prompted me to undertake a qualitative study into how this was affecting the fine art sector. Factors such as accountability, standardisation, increased student numbers, the diverse student body, graduateness, lifelong learning and their impact on fine art undergraduate education were all explored in a series of 12 interviews. The research aimed to identify how extensively such changes are affecting a fine art education and how fine art educators are adjusting to this new agenda. This paper sets out the stages that this research went through and indicates, briefly, a number of the major concerns, as well as possible ways forward for the fine art sector. This is a brief synopsis of what has been my doctoral study

Essay: The Politics of Fashion

This essay highlighted the main issues facing fashion education, including environment, workers conditions, media representation and the need to open up the debate and so challenge notions of what is fashionable. The essay raised the question of how can we in the fashion industry help steer a new line that emphases the inclusive potential of fashion, by involving a range of groups and sections of society in its creation and production

The Politics of Fashion: The HEI as a Catalyst

This presentation presented a range of dilemmas facing the fashion industry including media representation, globalisation, environmental pressures, the opportunities presented by science and technology and the instrumental role that HEIs can play in developing solutions

SHOWstudio Live Panel Discussion: Fashion East S/S 2013

Dilys Williams, Frances Corner, Marion Hume, and Lou Stoppard discuss the Womenswear S/S 2013 Fashion East show live as it happens