“Fashioning Stories of Change” in the Raphael Gallery at the V&A Museum
世界到處充斥過量的衣物，針黹還能縫出什麼意義？
在倫敦 Granary Square ，走過小孩嬉戲的噴泉，步進中央聖馬丁藝術與設計學院，聽著 Dr. Francesco Mazzarella 娓娓道來未來的服裝故事 —— 利用「服務設計」活化紡織工匠的社群，並邁向永續。他是學者，也是行動主義者。
2016年的聖誕節，他和Prof. Alastair Fuad-Luke 及 Dr Anja-Lisa Hirscher的項目就在意大利北部小鎮 Bolzano，邀請大多數來自中東的難民，運用後消費棄物創作升級改造，他慨嘆：「意大利擁有悠久的工藝歷史，工匠卻在不斷流失，來自時裝工業的難民，來到意大利卻不能工作。」，那次他讓難民們教授當地居民手工藝和為他們升級改造，期間籌得的收入最後回饋給社群。
The world is saturated with excessive clothing; what can a needle and thread still weave into the narrative?
In London’s Granary Square, as children play in the fountains, one steps onto the campus of Central Saint Martins and listens as Dr. Francesco Mazzarella narrates the future of fashion. Ushering textile artisan communities towards sustainability through “service design”, Dr. Mazzarella is both a scholar and an activist.
During the Christmas of 2016, in the small northern Italian town of Bolzano, Dr. Mazzarella collaborated with Prof. Alastair Fuad-Luke and Dr Anja-Lisa Hirscher on the ‘Make Yourself…’ project, inviting refugees (mostly coming from the Middle East) to create upcycled fashion from post-consumer waste. He laments, “Italy has a rich craftsmanship history, yet artisans are continually disappearing; refugees from the fashion industry come to Italy but cannot work.” That time, he witnessed refugees taking ownership of a makerspace and teaching the locals their crafts and upcycling the locals’ clothing, with the proceeds ultimately benefiting the community.
“Decolonising Fashion and Textiles” project participant performing in the V&A Garden
畫面轉回倫敦維多利亞和艾伯特博物館，21位來自東倫敦的難民，穿起自己和 Centre for Sustainable Fashion （永續時尚中心）的團隊及學生一起創作的作品，在作曲家Diego Garcia Martin利用他們朗讀理念的聲音來編寫的樂章下，以服裝和表演形式訴說他們的移民故事。他們來自19 個國家，展示著多元的傳統文化和美學，在當今以西方主導的時尚體系下，顯得大不相同，正如項目的主題 Decolonising fashion and Textiles（去殖民化時裝和織物），是一場文化永續的設計企劃。
Performance ‘Beauty in Brokenness’ at the FELDY Centre, as part of the student-led ‘Creative Legacy Collective’
The scene shifts back to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where 21 refugees from East London don creations made in collaboration with the Centre for Sustainable Fashion’s team and students. Accompanied by a soundtrack composed by Diego Garcia Martin incorporating the participants’ spoken ideas, these refugees narrate their immigration stories through clothing and performance. Hailing from 19 countries, they showcase diverse traditional cultures and aesthetics that stand apart in today’s Western-led fashion hegemony, embodying the project’s theme of “Decolonising Fashion and Textiles”, a culturally sustainable design initiative.
Since 2022, in three East London boroughs — Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, and Newham —Dr. Mazzarella and his team have been engaging with local communities to understand the stories and needs of refugees. In 24 storytelling sessions, each participant brought an object reflecting their cultural identity and traditions. Photographer JC Candanedo captured their portraits, leading to the creation of “Textile Autobiographies”, a visual meditation where individuals pause to explore their current lives and histories through needlework.
A series of workshops, banners advocating for children’s right to play, collaborative video projects with students, and roundtable discussions with policy makers and stakeholders in the fashion industry were organised. With this project, Dr. Mazzarella and his team want to ensure that refugees are accepted, seen, and heard.
“The materials used in this project are all second-hand; Some were donated by Agata Portale on behalf of her mother fashion designer Concetta Domanti, while others were sourced from our curated list of local thrift shops. We hope that through this creative process, our refugee collaborators will realise that there are options for conscious consumption and circular fashion out there,” Dr. Mazzarella says.
Project participants holding their textile autobiographies
Francesco 努力推動去中心化和文化多元的時尚面貌，我問：「我們能左右時尚主流嗎？」他引述意大利社會創新和永續發展設計學者 Ezio Manzini 的 《Small, Local, Open, and Connected》 （小型、本地、開放和互聯）的書中所説，只要越來越多本地獨立小店開放地連繫起來，慢慢地便能形成一股力量。
「我們永遠不要失去希望，否則我們就沒有未來。我們需要心存希望。」 Francesco 説。
The two-year project concluded in August 2024. Throughout the process, participants without technical skills came to learn, while those with experience offered guidance. Some participants have since been hired as workshop instructors and even assisted in curating at the London College of Fashion. One participant, a photographer from Iran, received a donated camera through an online appeal by project photographer JC Candanedo. The team has since hired this participant to capture future events for the project, and he is now building his career in London.
“This event made me realise that fashion is a reflection of one’s culture,” shares one participant.
Dr. Mazzarella works tirelessly to promote a decentralised and culturally diverse fashion landscape. When I ask if we can influence the mainstream fashion narrative, Dr. Mazzarella hopes in the emergence of many small, local, open and connected initiatives, that can gradually rebalance the fashion system, and form a powerful movement towards a more equitable, diverse, inclusive, and sustainable future. “We must never lose hope; otherwise, we have no future.”
