I'm struggling today. I'm in shock at the results of the US election. This demonstrates my naivety. Sometimes my optimism is blind. The implications of the results on climate action, biodiversity regeneration and social justice hit hard. It feels like a blow to the belly. I feel winded, dizzy, exhausted, deflated. I know I need to pick myself up. I'm not hit like my brothers and sisters in so many places around the world. It's for the ones who live the consequences of distraction, consumerism, disconnection, the normalisation of devastation. It not for people like me, who live on lands of relative safety, in places built from exploitation - it's up to us to be full of energy, not despondent, to be strong and ready to take the strain.
I draw today on the words of my brother Bayo Akomolafe, from when he joined us in April for our Imagining Possibilities Festival. He proposed to us that:
"In a time when being a good and conscientious activist is not good enough…maybe our bodies are being enlisted in larger than human fashion enterprises. …Projects in which we are not the stable authors, but where we are becoming together with other bodies."
We need to draw on our will and skill and tenacity, to see where that leads. Maybe our work is to offer ourselves at the service of others. This is something that we talk a lot about in the Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF). To ask what the Earth would have us do? What our communities would have us do? It’s a question we asked when we set out, over a decade and a half ago. It's still uncomfortable. I still wrestle with the balance between whether this sounds as though I am seeking to absolve myself of the duties of leadership of a university centre. Whether we are abdicating responsibility? We are in a position of privilege and visibility, a prominent role, in a prominent university, University of the Arts London, in a privileged country. One that needs to engage in reparation, in putting its considerable resources- its minds, bodies, materials, at the service of life. To strive for good lives based on the principles of justice and hope. This leads me to the work of Matt Small, pictured above, its resonance and brilliance responds to the question of, 'what communities would have us do as artists?'
I'm also taking on the advice of Thich Nhat Hanh, to take this anger and fear that I feel into a daily practise, into a body practise (and a writing practise) to breathe into it and to gather momentum for the work that we're doing. It is important work and I am wonderfully reminded by Laura Premack, to remember to keep equanimity; to keep all things in mind. That sadness and frustration must be acknowledged but it must not quell the curiosity and hope which must also be acknowledged and present in all we are and do.
With this, I return to our newly-launched multi-phase programme Governance for Tomorrow and Stewardship Board work, where I am channelling my knowledge and curiosity and learning in the support of a project that extends the role of creative practise from materials, products and services and business models creation, into a systems level intervention at a governance and stewardship level. See below for further information about this programme and how you can apply to join our Stewardship Board.
When we set up the Centre, it was to change the rules of the fashion game, to change its goals and to change its practises. We’ve done and continue to do substantial work to change product related design practises (demonstrated through the incredible work of over 15 years of our MA course students and graduates from MA Fashion Futures) and in work, changing the roles of creatives and what it means to be a fashion designer and researcher.
CSF researcher and Professor Helen Storey is currently in Malawi as Designer in Residence for UNHCR with Deepa Patel as part of an ongoing commitment to designing with and for the 99% of people who are not usually considered in jobs in fashion design. We develop and apply models of prosperity based on our well-being framework to change the goals of the fashion game. It's all work in progress of course, with tensions, considerations and trade-offs we wrestle with on an ongoing basis. We seek expertise and interdisciplinary perspectives to help us in our work.
All this work is vital but is not enough in itself. We now enter the realm of governance not to replace the sterling work that is being done by specialists, but to commit our creative ways of working and designing things. Through speculative prototyping of stewardship that explores the rules, goals and practices of governance. By transformation design, futuring towards a legacy that can leave better as well as contribute to good in the present. Thank you to all of those who have responded to this work to date. We value and indeed need to work with you. In the meantime, I am feeling ready to voice a resounding - and still we rise, thank you Maya Angelou.
Governance for Tomorrow | Stewardship Board Application Call Out
Do you have a vision for how fashion can operate within boundaries that are both safe for the planet and fair for all?
If you're ready to be part of this shift, we encourage you to apply to become a member of the Governance for Tomorrow (GfT) Stewardship Board to help shape the future of luxury fashion governance.
GfT is calling on visionary changemakers to model a non-executive board. The Stewardship Board is designed to lead the creation of new and alternative governance models within luxury fashion.
We seek a diverse mix of people, from different age groups, including students, early-career professionals, and seasoned professionals from around the world. You do not need to have experience in fashion, we invite applicants from all industries.
To apply to become a Stewardship Board member and for further information about the programme, who we’re looking for, and the benefits, view our website available here: https://www.sustainable-fashion.com/governance-for-tomorrow
Governance for Tomorrow (GfT) is a programme designed to bring together bold leaders, transformational ideas and creative thinking to fundamentally shift and re-shape fashion’s governance systems for today and tomorrow.
The programme is managed by Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF) and is supported by CSF’s long-term partnership with leading luxury group, Kering.
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