book workshop #2 @ Fashion x Craft Project 2022
My second workshop for the Fashion X Craft Project, run by Fashion Council Germany and Prince's Foundation, took place at Highgrove House in Doughton.
The books were selected for their application to design, creativity, craftsmanship the future and sustainability.
We followed the same format as the first workshop but this time we were joined at the outset by the author of the opening book. It was an honour to speak to a fellow author and subject matter expert about their area of interest and expertise.
I’ve included a brief outline of what they thought of each book below:
Fashionopolis by Dana Thomas
The designers were all relatively well-versed in the subject of fast fashion given that they’d been selected for their application of sustainable principles in their work. They were in full agreement of the book’s thesis but it was interesting to note how much had changed in the 3 years since the book’s publication and more interesting still was the discussion of value, labour and the business model not only of the fashion industry but more broadly.
Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard
The group mostly loved Chouinard’s business manifesto and how he foregrounded employee wellbeing. One pointed out that many of his practises are quite common if you’re working in Denmark while another disagreed with some of Chouinard’s definitions of what ‘good’ design is. They also drew distinctions between the author’s status as a businessman and their roles as designers; it’s harder to up and go climbing for 6 months with the demands of designing collections but they appreciated the principles nonetheless.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Having nonnative English speakers describe what actually happens in Gatsby highlighted how confusing the narrative actually is! English students are so well-versed in the story that some of the ambiguity in the narration gets lot from over-explanation so it was interesting to see that effect in action. The ideas of personal story and transformation and using clothes and taste symbols as class identifiers were big discussion points and particularly the idea of stealth wealth markers - non branded clothing or coded quality as signifiers of high society.
The Power by Naomi Alderman
This novel posits a present day scenario where women have physical superiority over men and the ramifications of that. The women in the group were split as to the depiction of how power corrupts anyone and how a female-dominant society wouldn’t necessarily be better; some felt that was a shame. The idea of art holding a mirror to society and questioning some static truths was a common talking point as were violence and revenge.
(if you're interested, here’s a link to our Notion resource with question prompts, quotes and links to supporting material)
On a baking hot day in the southwest of England, we took the workshop to the grass outside and had a fantastic afternoon discussing the books as we shuffled between various patches of shade. These books were about big concepts and principles, as well as the idea of crafting your personal story or manifesto and the designers had loads to say about the material.
Running these two workshops has been enormous fun and more than that, we’re looking at working together again twice later this year.
If you’re interested in running something similar, involving fiction or nonfiction books, just send me an email.
