Fashioning Change: Design Activism and its Outcomes on Local Communities

This paper reports on a research project aimed at investigating ways in which fashion activism and making can be used to catalyze positive socio-economic change and activate legacies within a local community. The project focused on a neighborhood in London with a previously strong industrial profile in fashion and textiles, and now challenged by concerns regarding deprived youth, skills shortage, decline in local manufacturing, and high unemployment rates. To tackle such challenges, this participatory action research project comprised a range of fashion activism interventions. The project was developed through a partnership between a Higher Education Institution and local government and contributed to activating change from within the system. The approach adopted is defined as “middle-up-down” as it bridges bottom-up initiatives activated by grassroots communities with top-down services delivered by support organizations. The outcomes of the project are discussed in relation to the key themes emerging from the project evaluation: sustainability awareness, empowerment and skills development, career pathways, and community engagement. In demonstrating how a “quiet” form of activism can be used as an embedded and situated approach to co-designing meaningful social innovations within the local community, the paper also outlines the limitations of the project and recommendations for future work.

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