Thinking through making: Material Driven Design Pedagogies in Postgraduate Fashion Craft Education

This study explores how material-led pedagogies support postgraduate fashion education learning. Anchored in the MA Fashion Artefact course at London College of Fashion, it draws on New Materialism (Vaccari, 2022; Braidotti, 2013) and Material Driven Design (Bak-Andersen, 2018; Karana et al., 2015) to position materials as active agents in learning. The research asks: How do multidisciplinary, material-led, practice-based pedagogies facilitate ecologically responsive learning in postgraduate fashion education?

An action research methodology underpins the study, enabling iterative cycles of reflection, observation, and refinement. The researchers, embedded in the teaching environment, examine how studio-based methods evolve through material engagement and collaborative learning. Seven participants from three consecutive cohorts (three current students and four alumni) offer perspectives from different stages of development. The curriculum foregrounds materials as co-participants in the design process. Rather than imposing predetermined ideas, students respond to material behaviour through experimentation, allowing form and meaning to emerge through making in a hands-on, material-first approach. Students working with locally sourced or culturally significant materials such as indigenous resources, animal-derived elements, or traditional craft techniques reported heightened connections to place, identity, and ancestral knowledge. Some extended their practice through collaborations with artisans beyond academia, broadening learning into community-led contexts. Findings suggest that by positioning materials as active collaborators, students challenge conventional hierarchies of knowledge while enriching cultural responsiveness and ecological awareness. By framing making as a dialogic process, the study highlights the potential of material-driven design education to support regenerative, inclusive, and decolonising pedagogical practices within fashion, craft, and design education.