Co-creation and participation during FASHIONCLASH Festival

Fashion Makes Sense is the name of FASHIONCLASH's ongoing program from which participation projects are organized.

FASHIONCLASH is committed to accessibility and inclusivity by making fashion as a participatory practice where process and embodied learning are highlighted. By giving a diverse group of people, different in experience, background and age, the opportunity to actively participate in activities, a more embodied experience of fashion is created and indirectly this contributes to greater awareness about sustainability and the role of fashion in the society.

For many people, sustainability issues are too far from their reality. Not everyone has the opportunities to participate in discussion and access information and knowledge. Staying in touch with people beyond your own bubble is not so obvious, but it is important if you want fashion projects to lead to positive behavioral change. To contribute to a sustainable, supportive and peaceful world, FASHIONCLASH believes that creating connections between people, disciplines and perspectives is an essential starting point. The world is too big and the problems are too overwhelming, but if we start bringing together values-driven (fashion) makers, initiatives and audiences around our environment, this can already lead to a positive impact on a small scale.

From this point of view, various activities are organized throughout the year in which interested people can participate in the form of workshops and co-creation. All these processes and results are ultimately presented during the annual FASHIONCLASH Festival.

In 2023, FASHIONCLASH has even gone one step further by unraveling the festival even more as a holistic whole and organizing it co-creatively where possible. For example, experiments have been carried out to change the form of model/performer casting; workshops instead of the inspection and selection of bodies. Festival exhibition was created in collaboration with five makers who were invited to develop curatorial concept. Esra Copur, took the invitation to make here performance for The Clash House participatory, read more about that here. Furthermore, the idea of participation has also been tried out at the Afterparty. 

On Sunday afternoon, during the Fashion Makes Sense Talk, moderator Mumster, Chanel Trapman, talked to a number of fashion designers and artists with whom FASHIONCLASH has collaborated to set up these participation projects.
Finally on Sunday, everyone was invited to print their own FASHIONCLASH merchendise thanks to workshop by Zeefdrukkerij de Hand.




'THE HOOOOOOODIE PROJECT'

During the 15th edition of FASHIONCLASH Festival, the results of a number of participation projects are presented, such as 'THE HOOOOOOODIE PROJECT' a project created in collaboration with fashion maker Antoine Peters in 2022 as part of the participation project Fashion Makes Sense. The result is a hoodie with sleeves of more than 300 meters long, filled with personal stories of more than 500 participants aged 7 to 70. During FASHIONCLASH Festival 2023, the hoodie was on display at Centre Céramique.

Afterparty as a participatory celebration of identity and self-expression

What do we express in the light and who do we want to become when everyone's watching?

On Saturday evening November 18, fashion and identity was celebrated during the Afterparty at Dans- en Partycentrum Bernaards.
For this project, FASHIONCLASH collaborated with theater maker and performer Samuel Valor Reyes. The FASHIONCLASH Festival Afterparty is an invitation to celebrate our individual identity; an act of community, empowerment, safe spaces and individual expression to play with the idea of who we are in the shadows when no one is looking through fashion, music, dance, performance and spoken word! Samuel invited a number of performers for this evening. Jento Schaf, Mikael De Geyter, Renzo Pepers and Nata Mandaria shared the stage with a number of participants of the movement and making workshops that were organized prior to the festival.

Campaign Project in co-creation with young people

This year the festival campaign was developed entirely in co-creation with young people. From outfits to styling and performance, more than 40 young people aged 8 to 37 participated in the project. Between Friday, April 14 and Saturday, May 27, 2023, FASHIONCLASH had set up a Pop-Up Atelier in collaboration with Centre Céramique in Maastricht. Several designers have supervised the fashion making workshops.
Photographer Laura Knipsael and video maker Steve Iseger guided the young people in the photo and video production. The result, consisting of a collection of outfits, a series of photos and a fashion film, is used for the festival campaign and was exhibited at Centre Céramique during the festival.

Who cares what you wear?

Who cares what you wear? is an interactive educative performance for young people (10+) with the aim of drawing attention to issues in the field of fashion and sustainability. Influencers Rose & Rosie go in search of what young people already know about fashion and sustainability and what they think about it. By vlogging about topics related to fashion, climate change, waste and sustainability, they create interaction with the group. Following the performance, there is an Upcycling & Mending Workshop.

'Who cares what you wear?' is a production of FASHIONCLASH in collaboration with theater maker Mayke Roels. Initially, the project is co-created with actresses Ilse Dorine, Aline Cornelissen, Lindsay Zwaan, dramaturge Nina Willems and input received from young people during pilot performances. Currently the play is performed by Amber Rozema and Rebecca Schoolmeesters.

FASHIONCLASH Festival is an initiative of the Maastricht (Netherlands) based FASHIONCLASH Foundation. FASHIONCLASH is a development and presentation platform for fashion (culture) that, through crossovers, contributes to, on the one hand, the individual talent development of the new generation of fashion makers and, on the other hand, to general awareness of the role of fashion in the world. Since 2009, the FASHIONCLASH has realized more than 250 projects in the Netherlands and abroad and provided a stage and support for more than 1500 artists and designers from all over the world.

www.fashionclash.nl IG @fashionclash_festival

Photography Afterparty by Mitch van Schijndel.
Photography of other events by Laura Knipsael.

More images during FASHIONCLASH Festival