Fashion Open Studio 2020 Goes Digital

This year Fashion Revolution is inviting you to #StayHome with Fashion Open Studio, an opportunity to digitally step into designers' studios and meet the teams behind the clothes.

During Fashion Revolution Week 50 designers from 12 countries will participate in Fashion Open Studio, the Fashion Revolution initiative where designers who engage with sustainable practices and for total transparency, open up their studios to reveal the processes behind the collections.

In response to the Coronavirus pandemic all events will take place online bringing these intimate studio experiences to a global audience, allowing a bigger audience than ever to have direct access to the designers leading the way to finding innovative and meaningful solutions to the social and environmental challenges the fashion industry faces.

These open studio digital events take the form of virtual studio tours, online tutorials and how-to’s, interactive digital workshops and intimate behind-the-scenes show and tells, talks and discussions. The events celebrate the designers who are seeking to answer questions like ‘Who made my clothes?’ and ‘What’s in my clothes?’. We believe that designers play a vital role in responsibility and transparency and there is no better way of being accountable than opening up your studio to the public.

Fashion Open Studio invites audiences to join from home, with conversations and discussions around sustainability and innovation, with practical solutions you can share, and ways to engage creatively with one another at a time when it is important not to feel isolated.

Continuing the partnership initiated in 2019 between Fashion Open Studio and Common Objective designers will be invited to a permanent hub to exchange ideas, measure their progress and continue the conversations beyond the workshops and events of Fashion Revolution Week.

You can sign up to all events over on www.fashionopenstudio.com.

Five questions that the Fashion Open Studio designers are answering:

1. Who Made My Clothes?

Karishma Shahani Khan invites small groups into a virtual studio each day during Fashion Revolution Week to learn quilting, embroidery and hand sewing techniques in a series of sewing circles with the team from Ka Sha and the artisans they work with. The intention to share the inherent social setting of storytelling and conversations that they witness within their everyday working environment with guests.

New Zealand based brand Kowtow will host an in-conversation between their founder Gosia Piatek and the CEO of Fairtrade Australia & New Zealand CEO, Molly Harriss Olson to discuss fair trade and ethical manufacturing and production practices.

Iranian designer Sanaz Nataj will present a series of films and an Instagram Live Q&A to show the story behind a piece of clothing and the people who made it.

Vietnamese brand Tamay & Me will introduce Mien artisan and co-founder Tamay in a special film screening followed by a Q&A with her co-founder Hannah Cowie to explain how they work together.

Nigerian designer Emmy Kasbit will discuss the artisans behind the signature woven fabrics in his collections.

2. What’s in My Clothes?

Swiss bag brand QWSTION will host a studio tour with co-founder Christian Kaegi, taking the audience through the development of their innovative Bananatex fabric from fibre to product.

We will explore the past, present and future of denim in a day of open studios in partnership with responsible denim manufacturer ISKO. The day will start with a potted history of denim with Moshin Sajid and then explore reusing and upcycling with Patrick McDowell, Michelle Lowe Holder and E.L.V. Denim and culminate in a panel discussion on the Future of Denim chaired by Susie Lau.

The Sustainable Angle will give an exclusive insight into the most exciting fibres and fabrics in their new material solutions digital masterclass.

Recent graduate Paolo Carzana will talk about his Central Saint Martins graduation collection and the importance of research and material sourcing including his experience working with Pinatex. This will be part of an afternoon session in collaboration with Somerset House, a culmination of their celebrations of Earth Week.

3. How can I care for and repair my clothes?

Graeme Raeburn of RAEBURN will show a series of rapid repairs in an Instagram Live demonstration.

Learn how to mend your jeans and denim jackets with S.Hawkins, who will demonstrate three 10 minute darning tutorials, and Glasgow based ReJean Denim who invite you to a participatory mending workshop.

Iranian embroidery artist Sona Asemani will show three embroidery techniques in video tutorials using embroidery to embellish, customise and repair your clothes.

4. How can my clothes be upcycled and transformed into something new?

Ssōne and Phoebe English will show guests how to transform waste materials into other objects. Founder of Ssōne Caroline Smithson will demonstrate the Swedish technique of toothbrush rug making from scrap textile. Phoebe English will show you how to quilt using waste fabrics and contribute to her collective quilting project.

Rafael Kouto, Soup Archive and Iranian brand Foje will use playful and creative techniques to explore upcycling. Rafael Kouto will host an interactive workshop where guests can learn upcycling techniques and transform a piece from their wardrobe. Berlin-based Soup Archive will host three playful explorations into upcycling and transforming your clothes. Iranian brand Foje encourage their guests on Instagram Live to creatively explore their own wardrobe to mend lost connections.

Mexican design and production studio Caralarga will show you how they work with raw textile waste to create sculptural accessories.

5. What would a new system of fashion look like?

Bethany Williams joins the line-up for Somerset House’s Earth Day programme in collaboration with Fashion Open Studio to explain how designers can disrupt the system and make new business models with a social purpose.

Swim XYZ and Techstyler host a panel to discuss how technology can recode the unsustainable fashion system.

Zimbabwean brand Haus of Stone presents a mindful alternative for making fashion combining meditation and making in ‘The Therapy of Fashion’, a contemplative workshop that guests can follow at home.

Kate Fletcher and Mathilda Tham will host a participatory Earth Logic workshop which will visit Earth Logic’s six holistic landscapes and identify opportunities for individuals and communities to take action.

The purpose of Fashion Open Studio is to share best practice and this year, there will be conversations on a global scale offering so many different perspectives and solutions to challenging issues that are universal to all. It is only by talking, sharing and collaborating that our best creative minds will get their voices heard and ultimately change the course of the industry for the better.

To register for digital events go to www.fashionopenstudio.com or follow along at @fashionopenstudio on Instagram.

Discover and connect with all the designers in the Fashion Open Studio hub on CO.