Controra Fashion Club

Here are some of the submissions I have received so far:

Camila Creel, a writer and fellow Applied Imagination student, and I have decided to join forces: we’ve started a podcast called Literally, Same to discuss topics that interest us, from fashion to film and tv.

Our first episode, available here and on YouTube, is about our respective projects and journeys, highs and lows. It was a great opportunity for me to talk about what controra means to me – nostalgically reminiscing about my childhood summer days in Southern Italy – and how it relates to fashion and what I’m doing now (the idea of slowing down, enjoying life). I also asked Camila a few questions about her personal relationship with fashion, and I was pleased to find out that my social media page and interventions have been for her a way to discover new ethical brands and a different way of interacting with fashion, more playful and inspiring.

I recently became a curator for Wiser Media, “a social curation platform and discovery tool for new media formats such as podcasts, videos, articles, and audiobooks. On Wiser, in real-time, you can discover curations created by friends, family, colleagues as well as intellectual influencers“

Tansy Hoskins, author of Stitched Up: The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion:

Tansy made a very interesting point. However, I also think that there are ideas currently residing outside the fashion industry, or slowly making their way in, that can become more prominent within the industry. I believe that fashion, specifically slow fashion, can be utilised to create communities, bringing people together. I also think that some brands’ storytelling methods can also be sources of inspiration for young consumers, which is what I have tested with my latest intervention.

Nada Dahab:

Nada’s feedback was incredibly helpful, particularly at a stage of my research process when my main focus was on making shopping a more fulfilling experience, organising events in retail stores to support emerging brands. These questions were in preparation for a Zoom meeting we subsequently had. My research question has since evolved, also thanks to her. Everything she said, from finding people to collaborate with, to deeply thinking about who would actually benefit from my interventions, really helped me get where I am now.

(I also contacted many more experts who did not get back to me.)

(the survey is sent out to participants only after they submit their work)

Results so far have confirmed my initial hypothesis that most people – specifically young consumers – have certain preconceived ideas of what ethical and sustainable fashion looks like (mostly plain, boring clothes…).

This intervention has been a good way to show that ethical fashion can also be fun, playful, colourful, and loud, and even an interesting source of inspiration, with actual human beings behind the brand.

A participant mentioned taking ‘a more rational approach to shopping,’ which I thought was a very interesting point to make. At the end of the day, a fashion brand is a business trying to sell a product – I think, however, along with the product, consumers should be able to get something else in return. A more fulfilling experience, an interaction, an exchange, even an opportunity to create their own content in response to and inspired by the brand’s vision/aesthetic. I will be exploring this further, as I receive more responses.

Founded by Hannah Crosbie, “Dalston Wine Club is a space for everyone—no membership required. It is a constantly evolving reimagining of the traditional wine tasting. It’s a place I wish had existed when I was first starting out in the industry. There were three things I about the events I went to at that time: unfriendliness, pretentiousness and small pours. Dalston Wine Club has none of these.” (https://www.hannahcrosbie.com/store)

I personally attended a couple of events before and had a really great time. My goal, after the course, is to create an ethical fashion version of the Dalston Wine Club – my project being called Controra Fashion Club after all. I have a list of people and places (for instance, I recently had a chat with someone who works at the FARA charity shop in Angel) who I can work with to turn my dream into reality. I would love to host events, collaborating with different emerging designers and brands to create spaces where young consumers can interact with them directly and connect with the stories and humans behind the brands/clothes.

The data I have gathered and analysed so far has allowed me to explore different ways to support emerging designers and connect them with young consumers through storytelling, including social media.

Being a young consumer myself, I have used social media also to share my personal shopping experiences (for instance, when I bought a dress that was hand-delivered to me by the designer) trying to give visibility to those emerging and ethical brands that are doing things differently. I am constantly looking for ethical brands to write about and possibly collaborate with, and recently discovered that I am not the only one.

Last week I attended an event organised by DAZED Media for emerging journalists, and I was lucky enough to get to chat with Dazed’s Fashion Features Director, who is also passionate about championing emerging designers. I mentioned my project and what I have been working towards, and she gave me her email address so I could send a link to my page and share what and who I’ve discovered so far.

Listening to the brilliant Aja Barber talk about consumer culture, specifically how smaller brands are the ones doing the work when it comes to sustainability and ethical practices, I thought about my conversation with Daisy and Leanne back in August, specifically what Daisy said about the challenges faced by smaller brands (12.08-13.39).

Daisy (who I am currently collaborating with) explained how difficult it has been for her her sister to focus on the brand, from sourcing the materials to finding partners and investors who share their same values and growing their social media presence – all of this whilst also working multiple full-time jobs. This is the reality of smaller brands, and, as a writer, I would love to grow Controra’s social media presence, helping creatives like Daisy and Leanne share their stories, hard work, and values with more people.