augmented-fashion-project | New School Futures

Augmented Fashion

(a cut-down version of the Fashion Legacy Project)

The General Mission

To find novel ways to initiate local regeneration (i.e. for a healthier/wealthier Gravesend).
We would start by looking for people with compatible diversities within the community.
John McKiernan has already begun this process with his Fourth Portal initiative.
By gently cultivating local curiosity (e.g. in art / vintage technology) FP attracted volunteers.
With modest initial funding we are convinced this can be turned into strong commitment.
With the right support, this commitment can be turned into creative community action.
Nurturing local creativity is vital, as it encapsulates the shared passions of individuals.
Our template for change is adaptable to existing needs and specific local interests.

This Particular Example

In this instance we might by harnessing local passions for fashion.
To achieve this we would re-shape fashion for a long legacy of harm-free fun.

Benefits for local communities

Encouraging local communities to generate local fashion trends would:
Blend traditional expertise with entrepreneurship and youthful energy.
Seed a network of community micro-hubs bringing young and old together.
Provide opportunities for monitoring the exchange of values and skills.
Local fashion creativity has the potential to enhance community pride
Encourage friendly, celebratory competition & enterprise (carnival/theatrical/artistic).

Benefits for the planet

An alternative to the exploitative over-production/over-consumption/disposal of garments.

The Vision

Imagine a new fashion paradigm.
Imagine fashion with more fun added.
Imagine fashion as a grassroots movement.
Imagine fashion with the exploitation removed.
Imagine fashion re-invented for lasting local benefit.
Imagine fashion run as a network of creative micro-hubs.
Imagine fashion as a catalyst for raising global consciousness.
Imagine fashion advocating feeling good as the path to looking good.
Imagine fashion as a popular movement renouncing disposable plastics.
Imagine augmented fashion as novel combinations of making and performing.

The Augmented Fashion Quartet

We would utilise our unique Creative Quartets system (see Wood, 2017; 2022).
This is a tried-and-tested workshop tool for asset-trawling & opportunity-finding
It is designed to find unnoticed local assets, opportunities and useful synergies.

Why a quartet?

the following diagram illustrates the auspicious nature of FOUR as a co-creative unit.

Each clink represents a meeting with the potential to become a productive relationship.
Every relationship is an opportunity to generate a productive/innovative outcome.
- In a duet we would only hear 1 clink.
- In a trio we would hear 3 clinks
- In a quartet we would hear 6 clinks
So a quartet has six times more creative potential than a duet

a quartet shown flat

A Creative Quartets workshop

We normally arrange the room as a flattened tetrahedron

invited guests included Prof. John Chris Jones

Augmenting Fashion in Quartets

This suggested version combines 4 ELEMENTS and 4 ROLE TYPES:

The 4 Elements

EXPERTS
NON-EXPERTS
KNOWN ASSETS
KNOWN PROBLEMS

The 4 Role Types

: NOVICE:

e.g. an assistant
e.g. learner
e.g. job-seeker
e.g. observer

: HERITAGER:

e.g. volunteer skilled in needlework
e.g. volunteer skilled in tailoring
e.g. volunteer skilled in dressmaking

: IMAGINER:

e.g. creative fashion designer
e.g. supervisor
e.g. college tutor

: OUTSIDER:

e.g. a creative but not from fashion
e.g. a choir leader
e.g. a craft enthusiast (think beyond the commercial constraints of fashion
e.g. dancer
e.g. choreographer
e.g. designer
e.g. food lover willingly share skills & secrets
e.g. organiser of festive parades or carnivals
e.g. inventor or entredonneur

WORKSHOPS IN PHASE 1

These consist of one-to-one meetings that can take place at the same time (i.e. as 2 pairs from the same quartet). They are usually very brief (between 10 and 30 minutes). They should be creative, open-ended but also very focused and outcome-centred. They would be documented by 2 silent observers. The documented results of these meetings

Session 1

discusses fashion ASSETS & PROBLEMS with to make 'ASSET CARDS' & 'PROBLEM CARDS'
at the same time that:
discusses fashion ASSETS & PROBLEMS with to make 'ASSET CARDS' & 'PROBLEM CARDS'

Session 2

discusses fashion ASSETS & PROBLEMS with to make 'ASSET CARDS' & 'PROBLEM CARDS'
at the same time that:
discusses fashion ASSETS & PROBLEMS with to make 'ASSET CARDS' & 'PROBLEM CARDS'

Session 3

discusses fashion ASSETS & PROBLEMS with to make 'ASSET CARDS' & 'PROBLEM CARDS'
at the same time that:
discusses fashion ASSETS & PROBLEMS with to make 'ASSET CARDS' & 'PROBLEM CARDS'

WORKSHOPS IN PHASE 2

These also consist of parallel, one-to-one meetings but may be preceded by some standard creativity exercises. They may take longer than the meetings in phase 1 (up to 45 minutes each). They should be creative, open-ended because their purpose is to reveal previously unnoticed opportunities. At these meetings, each pair would be given two equal piles of cards on which the local assets and problems (deriving from the workshops in Phase 1) have been summarised. The two categories (assets & problems) will have been shuffled together so the participants may not be clear which is which. Each participant takes one card from the top, turns it over and reads it aloud to the other. The pair then improvise as many ways as possible (within the time announced) that the two card readings could be combined as something new.

Session 1

bisociates whatever pair of ASSETS/PROBLEMS are on the cards in order to INVENT NEW ASSETS
at the same time that:
bisociates whatever pair of ASSETS/PROBLEMS are on the cards in order to INVENT NEW ASSETS