Navigating Skin
Navigating Skin | Exploring how the fashion industry navigates skin colour through a transdisciplinary systems thinking lens, focusing especially on Orientalism and the experience of Asian women. This research investigates how we might shift the fashion system to create authentic and sustainable racial diversity.
Collage | Created with campaign images from Prabal Gurung Fall 2018 Ready-to-wear collection
Navigating Skin is an autoethnographic research thesis conducted within the inaugural honours program for the Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation, part of the Faculty of Transdisciplinary Innovation at UTS and received first class honours.
Methodology
The Expert
A literature review exploring how our bodies are innately intertwined with fashion, the importance of skin for our embodied experience and the impact of Orientalism.
Orientalism is the notion that there is a standard and ideal dictated by the West and all other cultures are measured against this standard, all races are othered and orbit around whiteness.
This research explored the potential for counter-orientalism and five key themes emerged;
Homogenisation
Decontextualisaion
Self-Orientalism
Financial Success
Narratability
Triangulated Research Methodology
The Self
Making and autoethnographic practice was a key aspect of the research process and resulted in various material investigations.
Some examples of methods that were utilised include experimenting with fabrics and colours that from a personal perspective, related to the researchers own skin tone. Another method used involved creating iterative paper and fabric collages inspired by the myriad of diversity experienced in Asia as a comment on the type of material that is used to inspire colour stories.
The Participant
A systems thinking lens was used to analyse case studies alongside the five key themes relating to counter-orientalism. This was used to determine the possibilities for leverage, agency and change within the system of fashion.
Case studies were explored within four key areas in the complex system of fashion; fashion forecasting, designers, fashion journalism and fashion education.