Fashion Studies Presents:
the Fashion Studies Network

 
 
The Fashion Studies Network (FSN) is a collaborative scholarly community focused on the sharing of innovative research, methodologies, and practices in the field of fashion.
 
 

Founded in 2023 and led by the School of Fashion at Parsons School of Design – the New School and the Masters of Fashion program at Toronto Metropolitan University, this network is focused on developing connections between New York City, New York and Toronto, Canada graduate students, community members, and educational and cultural-heritage centred institutions.

At present, the Network operates through the following main outlets: 1) An annual symposium; 2) An annual Special Issue of published conference proceedings; 3) A series of forthcoming in-person, online, and hybrid panels and events for Network members.

2023–2024 Fashion Studies Network Members:

  • Parsons School of Design, The New School

  • School of Fashion, Toronto Metropolitan University

  • The Fashion Institute of Technology

  • The Bard Graduate Centre

  • The City University of New York

  • NYU Costume Studies

  • New Design High School

  • High School of Fashion Industries

  • New York Sewing Centre

  • Fashion Studies

  • The Fashion Studies Journal

  • The Fashion and Race Database

 
 

Call for Papers

Unravelling Fashion Narratives

Submission deadline: Friday, march 15th, 2024

We are pleased to announce the first Fashion Studies Network Symposium co-hosted by the School of Fashion at Parsons School of Design – the New School and the Masters of Fashion program at Toronto Metropolitan University. The symposium will take place from Friday, June 7th to Saturday, June 8th, 2024, at the University Center at The New School, 63 Fifth Avenue in New York, NY.

From any vantage point in the fashion system of production, circulation, consumption, and expulsion there are stories to be told. In the worst cases, these stories are of domination and extraction, but in the best case, there are stories that centre sustainability, equity, and decolonization practices. Woven in and printed on textiles are the histories of diverse cultures and communities. As well, dress and style are vehicles that express personal and political tales. We invite proposals, exploring these macro and micro fashion narratives, for our graduate symposium “Unravelling Fashion Narratives,” from curatorial, fashion studies, material culture, and performance scholars, as well as makers, dyers, weavers and other creatives and artists in the field of fashion.

Potential topics include, but are by no means limited to:

  • Critiquing and challenging dominant narratives in fashion

  • Archival collections’, museums’ and curatorial stories

  • Decolonial perspectives in design and representation

  • Fashion reality vs. fantasy

  • Stories concealed and revealed by dress

  • Global dress and textile stories

  • Inclusion and accessibility in fashion and dress practices

  • Sustainability in micro and macro practices

  • Threads of identity and dress

  • Fashion studies as an interdisciplinary field

  • Materiality

  • Personal and political narratives in dress

  • Dress history

We welcome graduate students, makers and artists from diverse backgrounds to submit proposals. Priority will be given to students at institutions affiliated with the network. If you are interested in participating in the first Fashion Studies Network Symposium, please fill out this Google Form and submit an abstract of no more than 300 words with a title. Please also include a brief biography. The deadline to submit your application is Friday, March 15th, 2024. If you have questions about the symposium, please email us at fashionstudiesnetwork@gmail.com.

The Fashion Studies Network (FSN) is a collaborative scholarly community focused on sharing innovative research, methodologies, and practices in the field of fashion. Founded in 2023 and led by the School of Fashion at Parsons School of Design – the New School and the Masters of Fashion program at Toronto Metropolitan University, this network is focused on developing connections between fashion-focused New York City and Toronto graduate students, community members, and educational- and cultural-centred institutions. An annual symposium hosted by FSN institutional members is a key goal of the network, resulting in a creative space where innovative research can be shared, conversations can be had, and new connections between communities can be made.

 

If you are based in New York or Toronto and are interested in joining the Fashion Studies Network, please reach out using the following form: