Houndstooth Wrap

The semester wrap features some student work from three bachelor programs and an interview with Emma Yench about her role in the transition to online teaching and learning. We also congratulate Professor Lijing Wang, who was awarded ARC research funding, and the School of Fashion and Textiles postgraduate students who presented their research at the PRS!

And in other exciting news, the Houndstooth Wrap website has also received a new look to wrap up the semester!

_________________________________________________________________________

Fashion, Textiles, Place and Story

Fashion Textiles Place and Story (FTPS) is a new offering for 2020. The course was developed by course coordinators Tarryn Handcock and Verity Prideaux and taught alongside tutors Liliana Pomazan, Lisa Carroll, Fernanda Quilici Mola and Anna Anismova. Verity Prideux said: “For the first time, approximately all 250 of our first-year students came together on day one of semester one to learn about Indigenous Australian perspectives and practices, including ‘caring for country’, and begin to consider our shared stories and futures within the fashion and textiles industry.”

“FTPS is all about understanding how diverse stories, knowledges, skills and perspectives contribute to fashion and textiles, locally and globally. And about how to share, know and reflect on these stories, now and ongoing, as students move forward through the next 3 years of their study and further afield into work and industry.”

“In week one, we learnt two indigenous phrases Womin Djeka and Dhumbah Goorowa and returned to these throughout the semester to frame the courses focus on stories of place and experiences of belonging. Womin Djeka in the local Boon Wurrung language means welcome, but like many Aboriginal words it is also conceptual. A more authentic translation is ‘welcome, come – what is your purpose or intent?’. While Dhumbah Goorowa means a commitment to share.

Our goals for the course outcomes were to learn more about respecting Australian Indigenous understandings of place and connection to country. To develop skills around reflective thinking and doing. And lastly to welcome the students in and help them make the first few steps in finding their place in fashion and textiles and to develop confidence to share their stories and collaborate with others.

The course is divided into 3 parts: Place, Our Business and Sharing. Throughout the course students kept an observation journal and used it to explore the process of observation, sharing, listening, thinking and reflection. Journals use text and visuals to discuss and reflect on class content and activities, they are a standard way of practicing and organising thinking and research. Reflection was based on Gibb’s reflective cycle and throughout the course we asked many questions and provided prompts to assist with the reflection process.

In weeks 1-4, the focus was on Place and developing a framework around stories. Students completed the Womin Djeka Indigenous Orientation online Micro credential and we looked at the notion of stories through the concept of place by exploring why do we tell stories, ways of finding stories, ways of knowing & experiencing stories and ways of sharing & telling stories.”

“In weeks 5-8, we shifted the focus to Our Business by exploring some of the shared stories within fashion and textiles. For this, a series of online workshops were developed involving a taster of a range of important issues told from local and global as well as broad and individual perspectives.

Workshops were presented by the course teachers and included Stories in Garments, Visible Mending, Ethics and Cultural Appreciation/Appropriation, Creative Reuse, Coding and Decoding Storyboards, Fashion and Modernism and Terroir Colour. Additionally, we were particularly blessed to have guest lecturers joining us to present workshops and would like to thank Sang Thai for Fashioning Intersectionality, Jo Cramer for It’s my Favourite! and Jenny Underwood for Fashion Futures: What is possible, plausible, probable, preferable?

These sessions were a mix of live and fixed content delivered through Canvas and Collaborate Ultra and provided staff with an opportunity to explore online delivery and student engagement using various tools and technologies. It was a chance to get the hang of breakout groups, sharing screens and videos, interactive whiteboards and group brainstorming, develop recording methods and hone our chat skills, sometimes all at once!”

“Over 3 weeks, students could pick and mix which workshops they wanted to interact with and were asked to document and record the workshop activities using text, mind mapping, drawing, making, reflection and visuals in their observation journals. For this middle part of the course our main framing questions were – What did you do? How did you do it? Who was present/involved? How did you contribute to the experience? What was the outcome?

The aim being to lead the students through Our Business to Your Business and starting to find and identify their individual interests and concerns as well as reflection on what they would like to explore further in the field of Fashion and Textiles.

This culminated in each student presenting online a PechaKucha style PowerPoint show and tell of their experiences within the workshops. It was perhaps a huge leap of faith to propose that 250, year 1 students present online in Collaborate Ultra – all in the one day. But we did, there were some glitches, there were some tech and sound issues, but there was also a lot patience and learning. The students presented an array of amazing PechaKucha’s generously sharing their experiences and depth of interaction in the workshop content.”

“Then in the final weeks the focus shifted to Sharing and starting to frame and tell their own story within the field of fashion and textiles by returning to the spirit of Womin Djeka and answering the question – What is your business or intent? How do you want to practice within the field of fashion and textiles? Within this the aim was for the students to develop an individual response that recognised their personal position, values, approaches and interests. Students were also introduced to mapping out a Community of Practice and started to consider what was their developing domain and who were the people in their network of learning.

This final part of the course involved the writing of a statement of intent and the creation of an artefact that could be shared with their peers via a course discussion post. Students also interacted and commented on each other’s work within the discussion.”

“For FTPS, the transition to online learning in week 4 meant rethinking the ways we come together, especially for a year 1 cohort who had had limited opportunity to get to know their peers within the face-to-face learning environment. We endeavoured to provide the class content in a variety of formats so that depending on their circumstance’s students could engage in real time or in their own time.”

_________________________________________________________________________

Bachelor of Textiles (Design)

In a fantastic learning-from-home activity, students were asked to watch a film and note the colours and patterns featured in the costumes and sets. Designed by Lisa Carroll, Contemporary and Ethical Textiles lecturer, the activity has been very popular and filtered beyond RMIT. See the Bachelor of Textile (Design) instagram, @rmit_btdes, for more examples.

_________________________________________________________________________

Bachelor of Fashion and Textiles (Sustainable Innovation)

The development of a digital folio in the Bachelor of Fashion and Textiles (Sustainable Innovation) program showcased a range of digital tools and apps  that were learner-directed and taught in class. The subject matter of the representational images was chosen by students, although may have communicated the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which were a focus of other assessments.

_________________________________________________________________________

Interview with Emma Yench

What has been your role during the transition? 

I am from the DSC Digital Learning team, and I was already working with the school on the program redevelopment project, so when we found out we’d have to move everything (very rapidly) online, I was kind of Johnny-on-the-Spot with my understanding of digital learning techniques and technologies. One of the remits of the program redevelopment project was to incorporate more blended learning, and well, in some ways COVID-19 did more to make that happen than I ever could have! We had roughly a week’s notice when the learning transitioned online and I worked in that week with ADD Jenny Underwood and Course Coordinators of Fashion and Textiles Materials, Sonya Kraan and Rebecca Van Amber to select the best online class platform for the school’s needs. Since then I and the other members of my team have done our best to help staff and students to get familiar and comfortable using Collaborate Ultra, and to think creatively about how they could solve some of the dilemmas posed by shifting heavily practical courses into the online space.

How do you think the school of fashion community has responded to teaching and learning online? 

Amazingly!! The school as a whole, staff and students, have responded to the upheaval with what I can only describe as incredible grit, determination and bubbles. There’s been stress, there’s been tears, but I continue to be blown away by the level of must-do, can-do attitude, and the ability to find advantage in adversity. Must be that design mindset, it’s brought out the creativity in spades! I don’t need to elaborate on the creative ways the teachers have found to teach their courses online and keep their students engaged, you can read all about it in previous issues of the Wrap! I have and continue to be inspired and learn heaps from them.

What worked well and what can we keep for future online and digital learning? What could we change?

From my perspective, COVID19 has represented a unique, albeit stressful! opportunity for people to really understand what learning and teaching online entails. There is not a teacher or a student in this school now who isn’t familiar with the online environment and what it can and can’t do, and the next step for the school is to take what’s best about online, and combine it with what’s best about the other forms of learning (studio-based, workplace-based, lecture-based etc) to create new learning experiences, and to solve some of the more intransigent difficulties of the past.

One of the things I think staff are really coming to grips with is how to use the online space in 3 dimensions to provide the things that we all know to be essential to learning: personal interaction, reflective time and practice, physical space to work and experiment, different ways of engaging, and questioning how things are done.

Shifting online has made people think very carefully about how to structure learning times. We all worked out very quickly that 4 hour classes on screen were exhausting, and there is now a lot of work being done to rethink how that ‘teacher-guided’ time is designed. That mindset is something very transferable and I would love to see it applied to all the learning spaces we use, so they’re all used to their best advantage. Perhaps as a bonus we can also solve some of the more intransigent timetabling difficulties around shared studio and labs spaces.

One of the most intriguing elements of this whole caper for me, is how bringing the learning so actively into the students’ own personal space will affect their development over time. Especially for first years just beginning their learning journey with the school, how will the necessity of seeing and being creative with everyday objects in new ways, and the development of auxiliary skills that may not have otherwise have got as much attention (hand work, but also digital skills such as communicating online, development of digital resources to demonstrate learning and skill such as creative use of video and other media) impact on their creative and professional output over time.

One of the best things about online learning is that it can be a connecting and documenting force in that space. By being constantly at hand, it can encourage and capture new creative thought and immersion in the learning in a way that changes their world. That is working very well in this situation, and I would love to see that continue.

How have you found working from home? 

I mostly love working from home. I love that my office now has a window, and I get to share my cats with my colleagues (maybe they don’t love it, but there’s lots of cat people in F&T!). I’ve noticed how productive we really can be when we’re all working online but some things have required some adjustment. I’m a big pointer at the screen, so I’ve had to make an effort to explain things in ways that are less vague and hand wavy, and more verbal. Also, as a person who is always on the move touching base with many people over the course of a day, I’ve noticed how much I am missing knowing the general background happenings and intel that I pick up on my perambulations.

Thank you, Emma!

_________________________________________________________________________

Congratulations to Professor Lijing Wang!

A project lead by Professor Lijing Wang from the School of Fashion and Textiles has been awarded $439,314 through Australia Research Council (ARC) funding. The project looks to improve multilayered firefighting protective garments and their thermal comfort.

It will create new multifunctional fabric designs and engineering techniques to integrate improved heat and flame protection, comfort and smart features into optimised multilayered garments. This will better protect wearers and allow them to effectively combat bushfires and save lives and assets.

Professor Lijing Wang said: “This project will provide substantial societal benefit to the Australian community by developing next generation protective clothing systems with improved performance and comfort to protect those who risk their lives to save properties and other people’s lives. The clothing systems could also be lifesaving personal protective equipment for civilians in bushfire prone areas or flash fire environment. The study will contribute to occupational health and community safety, and industrial capability development. The innovative material design and engineering technology developed through the project and the world-class researchers trained will be the foundation for Australian textile industry to advance its supply chain competitiveness and capture the fast growing business of protective clothing. The technologies and material engineering methods will enable Australian industry to access multibillion-dollar markets for multilayer protective garments with enabled sensors and other electronics in a manner that is sufficiently durable, reliable and ergonomic for the demanding eTextiles applications.”

_________________________________________________________________________

PRS: Online Edition

The first online Practice Research Symposium (PRS) was held on 5-8 June 2020. Congratulations to the candidates from the School of Fashion and Textiles who presented their research and achieved their milestones!

In her textile practice, Marni Stuart  works to protect the native Queensland Wallum habitat for future generations, using botanical observation and documentation to help promote and protect native Australian habitats.

Through her practice research, Remie Cibis considers the relationship between the body and images, perceiving the garment as a representational-space. A psychoanalytic perspective informed by visual arts feminist critique informs her questions around what fashion-images do to bodies and what bodies can do to fashion-images. Also within the context of image-making, Nirma Madhoo asks how a praxis enabled by digital methodologies and tools such as Virtual Reality [VR] can be explored for performative fashion media contexts. Her practice research proposes understanding how the digital virtual shapes the performing fashion body and how the fashion body performs the digital virtual. While  Gareth Kershaw explores material thinking through the practices of sculpture and dress, investigating the methodologies employed in the creation of clothing (pattern cutting & draping) and the processes of sculptural fabrication (casing, assembling, modelling and carving).

Investigating the processes and subjectivities of marginalisation, Fernanda Quilici Mola considers the contributions of traditional textile-craft activities to individuals and communities recognised as marginalised. Her research has found political and affective transformations take place through participating in traditional textile-craft practices, a phenomenon she describes as textile-poiesis. Similarly, Sang Thai explores the use of a men’s t-shirt within the intersections of gender, masculinity, performativity, race privilege, and the Asian queer experience in Australia. Strategies of parody and irony shape the t-shirt as a tool for subversive practice and empowerment in challenging hegemonic subjectivities.

_________________________________________________________________________

Waa Weelum

It is Chinnup, the season of cockatoos. Morning frosts, bleak mists and freezing winds make this the the coldest time of year. The Bunjil constellation returns in the night sky. Long cloaks were made from possum skins, and old people and pregnant women rubbed emu fat into the skin for protection from the cold. Possums have young in pouch, sugar gliders give birth, and echidnas are searching for mates. Roots of tubers are eaten.

In Melbourne and its surrounds, there are seven annual indigenous seasons alongside two non-annual seasons: flood and fire seasons. The Kulin people refer to the land as the ‘cold country’, which seems apt as we enter deep winter! While there have been recent sightings of the endangered black cockatoo in outer Melbourne suburbs, their presence is reminder of the loss of habitat due to the bushfires earlier this year.

In the next edition of the Houndstooth, we will look at the return to campus and check in with the plants and wildlife that call Waa Weelum home.

_________________________________________________________________________

Continuing last month’s feature on sharing approaches to learning and teaching, we hear from Kate Reynolds, Pooja Sharma, and Laura Banfield who teach Fashion Design Compositions and Styling in the Bachelor of Fashion (Design) program. We also applaud the efforts of the student and staff team working to develop prototypes for comfortable facemasks and meet new staff member Carolina Quintero!

_______________________________________________________________________

Bachelor of Fashion (Design)

Fashion Design Compositions and Styling (GRAP2826) is designed to investigate the role of a fashion stylist within contemporary fashion communication and industry and develop a set of styling and fashion composition skills to expand existing design methods. There is “a key focus on styling as a way of ‘reimagining what exists’”, which has been put into practice with the current pandemic restrictions!

The sessional teaching team of Kate Reynolds, Pooja Sharma, and Laura Banfield have responded to the challenges of teaching online, with Kate saying: “We are creating workshops, activities and discussions around the current COVID-19 situation and exploring how the current working from home/isolation period can be explored creatively by the students. We have a weekly display of ‘creatives working in isolation’ to showcase the level of output that can be achieved within a domestic context.”

Kate added: “A few of our class themes have included ‘Hat Party’ and ‘Sizzlin’ Summer’ to create student engagement and to have some fun in our new learning environment!”

“Our industry guests have included Jo Duck (photographer), Blake Barns (fashion designer H.B Peace and Vetements), Abby Bennett (Stylist/Fashion and Content Editor for Doingbird Magazine) and our guest for Week 11 is Antuong Nguyen (director/film maker at Silky Jazz). Our guests have discussed image making, composition and forms of styling, dressing interiors, objects and editing/gathering props with an opportunity for the students to ask questions.”

On the transition to online learning , Pooja Sharma said:
“A lot more work has gone into making sure that the activities are fast paced and stimulating as well as relevant to the assignment at hand – we have some one-on-one time, just like in a real life class setting, however we like to separate the students into smaller breakout groups to discuss their work with each other as well as us. It’s about keeping the students stimulated so they are creating work whilst being at home as well as sharing with each other during our online class time.”

“Our goals are to create a fast paced learning environment to keep the students engaged as well as developing a rapport with students so that we can create a sense of community even though we are all living in our own homes.”

Laura Banfield said: “A limitation of working online is that students and teachers alike can’t just peer over the shoulder of another student and see the fantastic work in their development journal. We have found the sharing of work and ideas to be an invaluable experience, and have been replicating this experience through allowing time for students to discuss their projects during Collaborate Ultra sessions and the use of Discussion Boards on Canvas. This way, we’re all working and thinking together as a group, even though the projects are individual outcomes. The students are across each others’ work and helping each other out!”

_______________________________________________________________________

Prototype Facemasks

A staff and student team from the School of Fashion and Textiles has developed prototype masks as part of a Federal Government initiative to meet potential shortages in safety gear during the pandemic.

Associate Dean (Research and Innovation) Dr Scott Mayson said the mask was designed to be a comfortable, secure one-size fits all product. Working with Scott are Technical Officer George Chan, Associate Lecturer Blake Barnes and Professor Rajiv Padhye, as well as four Honours students.

The design has been through several variations and has now been scaled up for further trials through the Australian Manufacturing Technology Institute Limited (AMTIL). If successful, it could soon be produced by local manufacturers.

Scott said: “It has been developed specifically to fit a broad range of faces with just one strap and a unique under chin profile that maintained a seal. The top panel conforms to the face with minimal pressure around the nose but also allows for expansion when talking or moving the mouth while maintaining the seal.”

“The intention is that it can be worn for long periods of time without becoming uncomfortable as many existing masks do, while still providing high levels of protection.”

The mask is made from several layers of specially developed material supplied by a local manufacturer and two internal sandwiched layers of blended natural material developed by CSIRO for filtering virus-carrying particles.

The team has been cutting and sewing the masks in design studios and production labs at RMIT’s Brunswick campus, while following extra physical distancing procedures. Honours student, Lauren Hart McKinnon said: “It’s been nice to be productive in a situation that can seem so far out of our control, even if it’s only a small contribution.”

“There are healthcare workers out there putting in ridiculous hours to keep people alive through this so putting in a few days’ work to make these masks feels like the least I could do to help.”

For further information, watch the feature on the ABC news or read about the trials on the RMIT staff website.

_______________________________________________________________________

Introducing: Carolina Quintero

In February, Carolina Quintero joined RMIT School of Fashion and Textiles as Associate Lecturer in the Fashion Enterprise program. However, she is not completely new, completing her PhD within the school and working as sessional teacher for the last 3 years. Carolina is originally from Colombia in South America and has worked in the fashion industry in Colombia, Brazil and Australia.

What is your area of interest/ expertise in fashion? My areas of expertise are clothing, materials and the interaction between the garments and the wearer. I like to investigate how the garment and fabric properties can improve the wellbeing of the user related to specific body needs.
I am also very interested in exploring the potential of diverse education and industry collaborations for learning and teaching and research. I really enjoy the interaction between creative industries and the academic environment.

What excites you about working at RMIT? I think RMIT, aside from giving me this amazing opportunity to keep working as a teacher (which I love), is a very exciting place to work because of its focus on innovation, entrepreneurship, international connections and addressing societal challenges.  In particular, I love how the school fosters creativity and is supportive of new ideas!! I really love the general feel of the University.

You started work around the same time as the pandemic. How was that transition? I started working on the 13^th of February and then the transition to online happened on the 23^rd of March. I was very glad that I was relatively familiar with the school and the Enterprise team. I cannot image how someone completely new to RMIT would have done it as the transition was not easy for me. However, I’ve had a lot of support from the different teams I work with. It has been quite challenging as I usually use a lot of physical samples as resources for teaching that I cannot use in the current situation… but nevertheless I am enjoying the super accelerated learning curve of online teaching!

How have you adapted your classes to teaching online? As for everybody, this hasn’t been an easy task… but I think I have found some good ways to engage my students through bringing industry speakers to the sessions, playing online games related to the session content and providing platforms where students can write about their learnings, their doubts  and their feelings regarding the classes in an anonymous way.

I hear you’re into… Dancing salsa and merengue… no, they are not food, they are two very popular music styles in South America and one of the things I miss the most from my home country! But still, I can have loud music and a floor space anywhere… so dancing at home with my family is not uncommon! I also love travelling with my family… getting to know places and different cultures is amazing!

Thank you, Carolina! We’re so glad you’ve joined the School of Fashion & Textiles teaching staff.

_______________________________________________________________________

Waa Weelum

It is Waring (Wombat) season, heading into deep winter. The days are cool. Wombats bask in the sun and moths emerge as food for birds and gliders. Fungi appear from the ground.

National Reconciliation Week is from 27 May – 3 June. This year Reconciliation Australia marks twenty years of shaping Australia’s journey towards a more just, equitable and reconciled nation.

Please save the date- invitation to follow shortly…
On Wednesday May 27^th 11.45 am to 12,30 pm – our DSC Ngulu & Belonging Committee are very excited to be hosting our first online all staff forum to celebrate National Reconciliation Week.

The forum is premised on the theme of Kerr-boo-on-ool  (to join) and is an opportunity for DSC to come together and reflect on our shared journey towards Reconciliation. Through a presentation of stories and practices emerging from across our schools and communities.

For more information on reconciliation at RMIT, see the action plan and Bundyi Girri resources.

And some good news!

RMIT has been ranked number one in the world for its efforts to reduce inequality within and among countries in the Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Rankings. Now in its second year, the impact rankings were designed to showcase progress against the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by measuring university contributions that social and economic impact.

As we adapt to the rapid changes enforced by the Covid-19 pandemic, we are reminded of the creativity and resourcefulness of our School of Fashion & Textiles community. This issue of the Houndstooth shares some of the thoughtful and innovative ways we are learning and teaching during this time.

_________________________________________________________________________

Advanced Fashion Studios

Bachelor of Fashion (Design)(Honours) & Master of Fashion (Design)

From the advanced fashion studio programs, we highlight the work of Dr Laura Gardner and Blake Barns in the Fashion Image course.

Course Coordinator, Dr Laura Gardner said: “Fashion image is a course in which students deeply explore the practices, contexts and conditions of image making in fashion. The course enables students to refine their image-making practices towards producing a lookbook, publication and/or portfolio of their work. We cover basic technical skills and creative practices and contexts in fashion communication, image making and photography for students documenting their work, and to produce and curate fashion imagery.”

Fashion Image in the virtual classroom
In response to learning and teaching online, Laura said: “We’ve had a really positive response from the students and they are doing great work in response to the conditions of isolation. One of the things we have been doing in our transition to digital is inviting industry guests to visit our virtual classroom for short drop in sessions. These have included Xeneb Allen (freelance Hair and Make-up artist), Hali Christou (Freelance stylist and fashion consultant), Luke Mayes (Head of photography, Rick Owens), Matthew Linde (Curator), Amanda Nicholls (Fashion Designer, Replica Project, and Master of Fashion (Design) graduate 2018) and (Designer, Balenciaga and HB Peace).”

“Guests have come in to chat with the students about their diverse practices and work in fashion, bringing in advice and answering questions from students about image making, photography in fashion in its many forms of practice, from styling and freelancing, image research and photography in the design process, campaign and editorial photography.”

“In addition to the industry guests, we are also continually sharing and updating the students with the resources and creative projects that have sprung up in the wake of COVID-19. From photographers doing really interesting shoots in their own homes, to Vogue’s Global Conversations series, and the many galleries and institutions facilitating online viewings and discussions. This has given us a lot of material and I think has got the students thinking about how they can use the restrictions of isolation in productive and novel ways. We are creating workshops and exercises in response to these conditions, the included images are student images created during a workshop we did in our first online classroom: ‘All dressed up and nowhere to go’.”

Follow the efforts of the Advanced Fashion Studios on their instagram account @rmit_advancedfashionstudios.

_________________________________________________________________________

Bachelor of Fashion (Design)

Program manager for the Bachelor of Fashion (Design), Dr Denise Sprynskyj, made the following reflections on working from home:

“Working from home has been a really interesting experience especially for studio based teachers like myself. I have turned the usual linear narrative that I follow such as making and exploring on the stand into combining and planning swatch making, experimental form in paper and miniatures, mapping in drawings and throwing myself into research. Then when I have the planning and research at a point I take these ideas into full scale forms.”

“I encourage the students that I teach in Transform Fashion Design materials to use this methodology for their designing, it is one that I used when I did not have a large studio space. It is also something that I am seeing as a global Fashion Design student movement……..I am proud that our students and staff are a part of contributing to a watershed moment in our history, rethinking how we work, when we work and how to make an impact through fashion design.”

“Our student cohort has embraced the change and we have had some really surprising results using film, image and dressing up for feedback sessions, wearing a special hat or showing your pet.”

“There has been a lot of openness and sharing as we learn and teach, beaming into people’s houses both staff and students have been generous in collaborating and discovering new and different ways of using the virtual space.”

Dr Alexandra Sherlock coordinates Fashion Design Body Artefacts and Accessories, one of the few practical courses which is continuing online, despite the pandemic. It is a collaboration with Trippen, the German footwear designer/manufacturer.

‘This is not a shoe’: Defamiliarisation through Deconstruction
Alex said: “In this first assignment students were encouraged to ‘unmake’ a pair of shoes and use the resulting components to inspire a material-led approach to design. Rather than selecting materials to realise an accessory design, this approach affords a more sustainable approach where the designer is encouraged to make use of the materials and tools they have to hand, often resulting in unexpected and innovative design ideas. The exercise also helped students to think beyond traditional perceptions of accessory archetypes and imagine new forms and functions relating to real bodies.”

“The feeling amongst students at the moment is that they’re enjoying the leather-working demonstrations we’re providing online (recorded by Mick Peel) and that it’s giving them something practical to do while isolating at home. Due to the lack of access to University facilities there is now an emphasis on hand-working techniques using the bundles of leather offcuts that Trippen sent over before the pandemic began. Trippen are hoping we will come up with some accessory ideas to make use of their leather waste.”

_________________________________________________________________________

Bachelor of Fashion (Design Technology)

Surviving isolation in the COVID 19 environment by being creative is the new mantra for the final semester students from the Bachelor of Fashion (Design Technology) as they receive fashion deliveries in the metropolitan parks around the edge of the city.

Program manager Gareth Kershaw said: “Switching to remote working to develop your graduate collection can be challenging when you don’t have access to specialty equipment or pattern making materials, along with most fabric stores limiting their public access.

Supporting students and keeping that sense of belonging to the program and school became my priority when the university closed. We had already suspended their studio courses before moving the remainder online.”

“I realised if they can’t come to us at Brunswick then I will go out to them. On our last day before the campus closed, I grabbed studio essentials like rolls of pattern making paper, calico, blocks, fusing & threads – all the elements to continue working from home. I let the students know I was on-call – Uber style – to deliver any of these materials and the offer has been taken up!”

“We have been very lucky that 98% of our students have access to domestic sewing machines through a survey we did with them at the start of semester. The remainder are developing their patterns in anticipation of returning to RMIT.”

“I’ve also been conscious of the need to keep in contact with many of our international cohort who live in the CBD. Their isolation is compounded by family distance and as they don’t drive and catching public transport is not an option at the moment, it is important that the teaching team checks in with them regularly to offer feedback via facetime, WeChat or skype on their toile development.”
 
“This is where the offer to meet them at a respectable distance to hand over supplies has been a creative solution to so many impacting factors.”

_________________________________________________________________________

Master of Fashion (Entrepreneurship)

Innovation and adaptation are no strangers to an entrepreneurship program! Senior Lecturer in the Master of Fashion (Entrepreneurship) program, Dr Carol Tan said “All industry clients and guests for courses across the program have joined us on our online journey. Utilising Collaborate Ultra to deliver guest lectures and industry briefs is a first for all partners. However, they are very happy to adapt to this new delivery mode.”

This has included the online delivery of beauty product pitches to private label manufacturer of sustainable cosmetic and personal care products Green Leaf Cosmetics in Research Strategies for Fashion Ventures with Dr Saniyat Islam and connecting with industry through weekly online guest speakers in Fashion Entrepreneurship and hearing from Carl Nave in Fashion Retail Management Strategies with Angelo Pantalone.

The program also has a tradition of taking a group photo in the last class of each course, with the recent completion of the intensive Business Management course resulting in screenshots in Collaborative Ultra instead.

The efforts have been appreciated by the MoFE students, with one student, Hemasri Dogga, posting on her instagram:

“1st week of online classes successfully done!! It is a big challenge for a program like Fashion Entrepreneurship to run online and cut down on all the industry visits, pitches to the industry partners, designing and making products etc. Thank you to the @rmitmofe staff for making the online lectures and tutorials interesting, fun and convenient for the students!! Thank you for making big and quick changes in our course structure within the short period of time we had.”

_________________________________________________________________________

RMIT x Air Max Day Melbourne

Congratulations to Ricarda Bigolin, Chantal Kirby and Blake Barns, who (pre-Working From Home) led an exciting research project between Nike Sportswear and RMIT! The project involved a series of design research workshops for the global creative product launch of ‘Air Max Day’, on March 26, with over 70 Master of Fashion (Design) and Bachelor of Fashion (Design)(Honours) graduates and students, as well additional industry practitioners involved.

Nike produced a microsite to present the research project, as well as sharing content on multiple global Nike platforms. Documentation is also available at @rmit_advancedfashionstudios.

Proving prescient, the banner statement for the project reads: “Sometimes change is all we can count on. And it’s in these times that creativity and radical thinking are just what we need. To remain joyful. To inspire. To contribute to the collective good.” Words to live and design by in these strange times.

___________________________________________________________________________

Thank you to all the staff in the School of Fashion and Textiles for your efforts during these uncertain times. If you’d like to share news from your program or course, we’d love to hear from you! Please contact julie.macindoe@rmit.edu.au.

Welcome to this special edition of the Houndstooth Wrap, where we celebrate the students and staff who presented at VAMFF! With events presented between 4-14 March, the festival was held on the cusp of the pandemic with several events cancelled, including the National Graduate Showcase. While these students weren’t able to present as part of VAMFF, we include their efforts in this wrap-up.

Congratulations to all students and staff who were involved in the presentation of work at VAMFF! 

______________________________________________________________________

National Graduate Showcase

Friday 13th March, 6pm, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne.

Cancelled mere hours before presentation, we applaud the hard work and achievements of the graduates who were chosen to present at the National Graduate Showcase. Of the twelve fashion graduates nominated, eight were from RMIT: Congratulations to Bella Redman-Brown, Icelynne Yeo, Jordyn Smith, Kim Clark, Yumi Wang, Shrinvanti Roy, Syna Chen and Jake Liu! 

While unable to present their designs on the runway, their work was recognised by the showcase partner, Fashion Journal, through editorial and interviews. To learn more, see the interviews with Kim Clark, Syna Chen, Jake Liu, Yumi Wang, Jordyn Smith, Icelynne Yeo, Bella Redman-Brown, and Shrinvanti Roy or read the full list of finalists here.

______________________________________________________________________

Angel Energy

Tuesday 10th March, 6-10pm, Abbotsford Convent.

Angel Energy was a fashion and performance project that showcased the work of RMIT graduates from the Bachelor of Fashion (design) (honours) graduating class of 2019, including Georgie Allen, Madeline Assi, Matilda Comb, Bayley Eade, Gracie Forshaw, Katherine Violet Nolan, Michelle Li and Jordyn Smith. Directed and coordinated by Madeline Assi, the show was described to Astrophe magazine as: “collaborating feminine aesthetics with notions of street wear whilst playing with softer ethereal and angelic themes. Sparked by an interest in contact improvisation, the performance is an exploration of one’s body in relationship to materials. The series of instinctual and unfiltered movements provides an honest portrayal of body and dress in motion.”

______________________________________________________________________

All Tee, No Shade

Saturday 7th March, 4-6pm, Hares and Hyenas, Fitzroy.

All Tee, No Shade presented the research practice of Associate Lecturer and Masters by Research candidate Sang Thai. Sang said: “The installation allowed the audience to view and interact with creative work that draws from the confluence of race and sexuality to reveal the negotiated lived experience of being Asian and queer. It forms part of an ongoing project exploring intersections of gender, masculinity, sexuality, performativity and race privilege embodied in the archetype of the t-shirt.”

______________________________________________________________________

Tableaux Vivant

Saturday 7th March, 4-5pm, Angel Music Bar, Melbourne.

In Tableaux Vivant, S!X (Senior Lecturers Denise Sprynskyj and Peter Boyd) presented a series of projections of iconic French artworks on a canvas of deconstructed garments, both recut and restyled to propose different ways of seeing and thinking about fashion: its medium, its time and place, and its materials. The re-imagination of the iconic French artworks have been developed from an ongoing interest in the use of French words and images to trigger design and contribute to a playful depiction of fashion and image making.

______________________________________________________________________

Less is more. More or less.

Friday 13th March, 6-8pm, Sarah Scout Presents, Collins St, Melbourne.

Designed and choreographed by PhD candidate Remie Cibis, Less is More. More or Less was a fashion performance that produced a series of looks through strategies of deletion and negation. By successively redacting more and more of the body, a space was opened up, and a series of garments emerged in its place.

______________________________________________________________________

Fashion Fix

Saturday 7th & 14th March, Garden Building, RMIT

Produced by School of Fashion and Textiles lecturers Georgia McCorkill and Jo Cramer, Fashion Fix explored the role of mending and repair within the garment lifecycle. Georgia said: “We were curious to find out more about what sorts of garments our customers brought for repair, and people’s knowledge of mending techniques. We also wanted to prototype a mending service to consider how as designers we can contribute to the design of mending systems. We had small groups of participants over two days, and it was fascinating how individuals played different roles of client, teacher and student during their time with us. This was an initial exploratory project and our minds were full of ideas for ‘next steps’ and further collaborations at the conclusion of the events.”

______________________________________________________________________

Felt Stitches

Monday 9th March – Friday 13th March, 11am-6pm, Abbotsford Convent.

Felt Stitches was a participatory installation by PhD candidate Ritika Skand Vohra, exploring the sense of touch through fostering an interplay between hand as feeler and hand as maker. The installation considered touch as a thread that binds the body and materials together during the process of making. One participant visiting the installation gave Ritika this feedback: “Beautiful art work, touch is often a neglected part of art these days, coming here and being able to interact with your pieces has been grounding for me. Touching pieces with your eyes closed brings back memories of past adventures.”

______________________________________________________________________

Hartnell Of Melbourne Retrospective

Sunday 8th March, 11-4pm. Como House, South Yarra.

Masters by Research candidate Tom McEvoy presented the Hartnell of Melbourne Retrospective, displaying the largest collection of garments for the once prestigious and innovative Melbourne fashion house. Hosted in collaboration with the National Trust and Como House, the event consisted of a salon show and discussion between the head designer Brian Samuel and Tom McEvoy, giving insight into the highs and lows of the fashion house, and an exhibition throughout Como House.

______________________________________________________________________

Nocturnal x Fashion

Friday 6th March, Melbourne Museum.

PhD candidate Nirma Madhoo presented her VR fashion film, Azimuth, at Nocturnal x Fashion, a celebration of the best of music and fashion at the Melbourne Museum. Nirma said: Azimuth is a short fashion VR film that explores Brutalist architectures and environments as elemental triptychs in a 360 degree space. Fashion performances are imaged for each of these states to an immersive ambisonics original score.

______________________________________________________________________

The Future of Trend Forecasting

Thursday 5th March, 5.30-6.30pm, Siteworks Brunswick.

Drawing from her PhD research, Clarice Garcia presented a seminar called The Future of Trend Forecasting to discuss the role of fashion trend forecasting in a scenario where sustainability and new consumption behaviours may challenge the practices and systems currently in place within the field of fashion forecasting.

______________________________________________________________________

Big Questions and Big Ideas

Friday 6th March, 6-8pm. RMIT Design Archives, Carlton.

Presented by PhD and Masters candidates from the RMIT School of Fashion and Textiles, Big Questions and Big Ideas was a panel discussion that showcased the variety of issues being addressed by research within the school. With topics varying from the ethical, cultural, sensory, and environmental aspects of fashion, to reclaiming the past and speculating about the future, the panel encouraged a lively discussion about fashion.

Moderated by Senior Lecturer Sean Ryan, the panel members included Anna Anisimova, Rashmita Bardalai, Rute Chaves, Remie Cibis, Clarice Garcia, Rachel Lamarche, Tom McEvoy, Fernanda Quilici Mola, Ritika Skand Vohra, and Yassie Samie.

______________________________________________________________________

Australian Fashion Summit

Friday 13th March, Deakins Edge, Federation Sqaure

A key event of the festival, the Australian Fashion Summit provides an opportunity to discuss the critical themes affecting the fashion industry. CEO and President of the Global Fashion Agenda (GFA) and founder of the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, Eva Kruse, delivered the keynote presentation, calling on the industry to change to more sustainable ways to prosperity, considering social and environmental factors.

Alongside sustainability, other issues discussed at the summit included managing financial risk, the need for diverse representation in fashion media, and the importance of cultural awareness and sensitivity, whether in the contexts of global trade or valuing indigenous fashion design.

As the education partner, RMIT invited some students to attend the summit and participate in a speed networking event, meeting people like Laura Brown, Editor in Chief at Instyle USA, Margie Woods, Creative Director of Viktoria & Woods, and Marnie Goding, Creative Director of Elk. The closing statement for the summit was delivered by two RMIT students, Fiona Wilshin and Julie Macindoe, who responded to themes of the summit and presented their hopes for the industry. ​

______________________________________________________________________

Fashion Film Awards 2020

Thursday 5th March, The Capitol, RMIT Melbourne.

As the longest-running and leading Australian platform for the fashion film genre, the 2020 Fashion Film Awards screened an official selection of shortlisted films alongside the best of RMIT student fashion films. The screening was followed by a panel discussion hosted by Victoria Pearson, Content Director at RUSSH Magazine in conversation with directors Gracie Otto, Luci Schroder and Victoria Thompson, exploring the borders between content and art within the fashion film medium.

______________________________________________________________________

Waa Weelum Growings

It’s the start of Waring (wombat) Season. The days begin to cool and wombats appear to bask in the sun. The hearts of the soft tree ferns are eaten.

For now, we have left our beautiful Brunswick campus, Waa Weelum, in the care of the crows.

The Reflective Wrap: Thinking, Making and Printing In these uncertain times, celebrating the achievements of our community is a welcome respite! We congratulate those from the School of Fashion & Textiles who presented at the Graduate Research Symposium and the Critical Fashion Studies conference in February, and Dr Jenny Underwood and Dr Daphne Mohajer va Pesaran (in collaboration with Jake Nakashima-Edwards, recent Bachelor of Fashion(Design)(Honours) graduate) who presented work at the Future Prototyping Exhibition in March. With so many staff and students presenting at VAMFF, we will be issuing a special wrap-up in the next few weeks.

---

Graduate Research Symposium (GRS)

12th-14th, 24th-25th February & 2 March, Brunswick.

The Graduate Research Symposium took place over three weeks and commenced with a keynote presentation by Professor Steve Michielson, aka Dr Blood, who highlighted the potential for material surface properties to contribute to the comfort and performance of garments, including the timely example of antiviral protection, and the forensic application of blood stains in clothing.

From the masters cohort, Thomas McEvoy explained how a miniature garment, enlivened through QR codes, can rescue Australian fashion history, Sang Thai examined masculinity and diasporic Asian queer experience through the use and making of a t-shirt, and Rohani Osman discussed the social echo and collaborative practices of nail art and adornment.

Rohani Osman described her research: “I decided to undertake my research because I wanted to learn more about the practice of fingernail adornment, an industry that I currently also work in, but was unable to find any writing about it other than standard industry information or articles in fashion magazines. Centring the research around my own practice has given me valuable insight into the way i work, as an artist, and how I navigate my relationships with my clients.

Studying masters part time has given me great flexibility to fit in alongside full time work. I have also been very fortunate to have a great supervisory team that spans across the School of Fashion & Textiles and the School of Art who have been very generous with their time and provide me with rich feedback during meetings.”

Confirming their doctoral candidature, Rachel Lamarche presented her framework for investigating  consumer behaviour related to veganism and fashion, Clarice Garcia speculated on trend forecasting methods of the future, and Gareth Kershaw drew from his art background to create a sculptural practice of dress. Reporting on her research to date, Yassie Samie discussed the complexities of the textile and clothing waste ecosystem, using metropolitan Melbourne as a test case, while Mac Fergusson reviewed the history of textile manufacture in Australia, from 1788 -2020.

Taking a sensory approach, Caroline McMillan discussed her design practice of multisensorial wearables in an Internet of Worn Things. Giving attention to material comfort and performance, Lize Niemczyk evaluated the performance and design of bras worn under body armour, Chalisa Apiwathnasorn presented on developing mosquito repellent textile from Zanthoxylum Limonella essential oil coating, Olga Gavrilenko explored nanofibrous coating on cotton fabric, and Abdur Bhuiyan investigated chemical protection and improved thermophysiological wear through textiles.

---

Critical Fashion Studies conference

Thursday 27th- Saturday 29th February, University of Melbourne

Congratulations to the School of Fashion staff and postgraduate students who presented research at the Critical Fashion Studies conference held at University of Melbourne. A special mention goes to Harriette Richards, former compiler of the Houndstooth Wrap and organiser of the conference!

Reflecting the deep engagement of the school with sustainability efforts, Kate Sala spoke on transforming sustainable fashion education, Georgia McCorkill, considered poetic processes for designing from waste, Emma Pollock looked at consumer behaviour through clothing swaps and Rachel Lamarche investigated values-based labelling and vegan fashion.

School of Fashion lecturer, Georgia McCorkill said: “The Critical Fashion Studies conference was really interesting for me in the sheer number of predominantly Australian researchers exploring sustainable and ethical questions from a wide range of perspectives. This is a marked difference from a few years ago where discussions were very much focused solely at the material sourcing and supply chain areas. I think the input from a large number of cultural studies based researchers made for interesting contributions to the emerging field of wardrobe studies and also a much needed critical perspective on emerging frameworks such as the circular economy.”

Another cluster of research interests focused around the relationship between fashion and the senses. Caroline McMillan presented on the development of an olfactory fashion wearable, Ritika Skand Vohra shared her sensorial creative practice that privileges touch, and Julie Macindoe explored how blind women navigate gendered, ocularcentric dress practices.

Showcasing the diversity of research projects, other presentations included Daphne Mohajer Va Pesaran reporting on the practices of paper clothing in Japan, as part of the Endangered Material Knowledge Programme, and Tarryn Handcock on designing urban site-responsive fashion, using examples of live performance events with the Bachelor of Fashion (Design)(Honours) third year students: Urban Flâneur: Fashion Reimagines the City (2018) and Situation Brunswick (2019).

---

Future Prototyping Exhibition

24th February- 27th of March, Melbourne School of Design

Creating design provocations with the  future in mind, Dr Jenny Underwood (in collaboration with Leanne Zilka) and Dr Daphne Mohajer va Pesaran (in collaboration with recent Bachelor of Fashion (Design) (Honours) graduate Jake Nakashima-Edwards) were part of the Future Prototyping Exhibition.

The work by Daphne Mohajer va Pesaran and Jake Nakashima-Edwards proposes a speculative system for garment design based on a thought experiment by Greek philosopher Heraclitus around 400-500 b.c, which when applied to the context of fashion design, generates questions like: What stays the same in a coat that has been repaired so many times that it no longer retains any of its original fabric or thread? Can we design a garment for a hundred years?

Lecturer Daphne Mohajer va Pesaran said: “This prototype series could open lines of enquiry into authenticity, identity, value and time, enabling fashion consumers to disrupt the regeneration of garments—not only aesthetically, but materially”.

---

Mutoh Printer

A brand new Mutoh ValueJet 1938TX direct-to-textile pigment printer has replaced the old Roland, that found its new home in Sydney at Blueprint Digital last Friday.

Danielle Andree said: “Thanks to a joint effort between the Schools of F&T and VDSC, we were able to replace an important piece of equipment. The intention being that a more reliable and capable printer would allow us to offer large format digital textile pigment printing more readily to students as part of their studies. This particular print process is suitable for a range of white or light coloured woven cellulose and protein fibre fabrics – we are also looking forward to testing whether we can successfully print onto such fabrics with knitted constructions. 

After 3 days of installation, the printer ran its first batch of prints and the results have simply blown the print staff away. The deep blacks, vivid colours and print clarity that we’ve just not been able to produce previously has got us all very excited!

Like any piece of equipment, the Mutoh will require love and care to stay in tip top condition. I’m in the process of developing some training for print staff in the maintenance and use of the printer.”

If you would like any more information or to see the printer, please contact Dani: danielle.andree@rmit.edu.au

---

Waa Weelum Community

It’s the start of Waring (wombat) Season. The days begin to be cool and wombats appear to bask in the sun. The hearts of the soft tree ferns are eaten.

As the seasons change, the plants and wildlife of Waa Weelum prepare for the cooler months ahead. The rainbow lorikeets are noisy in the trees, while the crows strut around below. The leaves begin to fall.

This week, students from Fashion Textile Place and Story participated in a weaving activity using grasses and foliage found around the campus; a wonderful way to learn about the plants of Waa Weelum and be outside in the sunshine, particularly in these stressful times.

 

The next issue of the Houndstooth will be a special wrap-up of VAMFF! In the meantime, please share any projects or achievements so that we can remain connected during this time of social distancing.

Welcome to 2020 – an extra wrap of 2019!

Before the semester officially begins, we continue to celebrate the achievements of staff and students across the School in 2019. We recognise the wonderful work of the Masters of Fashion (Design) program; congratulate Kim Clark, on her AUSFF scholarship, and textile design alumnae Cassie Byrnes, on her collaboration with Nike for the Australian Open; and party with Adele Varcoe and Jane Morley at Leigh’s House and Ricarda Bigolin, Chantal Kirby and Laura Gardner on the launch of D&K LOOK BOOK and Mode and Mode issue seven.

---

*SHOW – Master of Fashion (Design) Graduate Showcase at MPavilion

Thursday 14th November, 6:00 – 9:00pm

The collaborative MPavilion presentation celebrated the 2019 RMIT Master of Fashion (Design) cohort’s mastery of advanced fashion practice. Associate lecturer Blake Barns said: “The eleven designers in showing their graduate collection responded to the unique MPavilion architecture, this year designed by renowned Australian architect Glenn Murcutt AO. The show presented a culturally diverse, critically and aesthetically potent group of RMIT Master of Fashion (Design) graduates, exploring contemporary approaches to materials, the body, environments, people and economies.”

In reflecting on the Masters program and experience of preparing for presentation, Kurt Van Velzen said: “It’s taught me how to set yourself up and hopefully succeed one day as well.”

---

AUSFF Scholarship 2020 recipient: Kim Clark

Congratulations to Kim Clark, a 2019 Master of Fashion Design graduate, who was awarded one of two Australian Fashion Foundation Scholarships for 2020! The scholarship supports emerging designers with USD$20,000 and a six-month internship at an international company in the US. Born in Vietnam, Kim acknowledged in a Sydney Morning Herald interview that “studying with a language barrier and a family was challenging, but she hoped her collections would be a ‘celebration of the cross culture’ between Australia and Vietnam“. Joining Kim as a recipient for 2020 is Domenic Roylance from UTS.

Also, congratulations to the other RMIT graduates who were chosen as top 10 finalists: Caitlin Mullaly, Danielle Herbert, Geordie Tancheff, Jordyn Smith, Katarina Kristo, and Lucinda Connelley.

---

Alumni News: Cassie Byrnes, Nike collaboration for Australian Open 2020

Congratulations to Textile Design graduate (’14) Cassie Byrnes for her recent collaboration with Nike for the Australian Open 2020!

In an interview with Oyster, Cassie said that Nike invited her to represent her Australian identity in the designs, going on to describe her inspiration:

“I was fascinated at the time with ‘Gondwana’ — the supercontinent Australia was part of when the world’s current continents were connected… And then to contradict that, I was also drawing on a lot of abstract expressionist art at the time. So, I kind of merged these two inspirations and that’s what created the style of the patterns.”

---

Leigh’s House

Tuesday 12th November, 5:00 – 7:00pm

Part club, part performance, part fashion show, Leigh’s House was presented by Adele Varcoe & Jane Morley in collaboration with Hannah Berry, Shannon Green, Betty Liu and RMIT Bachelor of Fashion (Design) students.

Adele Varcoe said: “Drawing from the history, work and life of Leigh Bowery, we created 100 costumes that used the jumpsuit/onesie archetype as a basis to explore new methods and materials to make things for bodies. The costumes, worn by the audience entered a club to dance with local breakdancers and a choir. The anonymity that came with the head to toe costumes invited people to let go and perhaps adopt another persona/character or feel more like themselves.”

Images: Angela Armstrong

---

D&K LOOK BOOK 2019 and Mode and Mode issue seven

Last December, D&K, Mode and Mode and Surpllus presented a special Melbourne launch party celebration and performance of D&K LOOK BOOK 2019 and Mode and Mode issue seven at Colour Nightclub on December 11. The event presented a performance of the two publications and the limited-edition ‘covers’ created by D&K (Ricarda Bigolin and Chantal Kirby) following the recent launches in Amsterdam and London in November.

---

Waa Weelum Growings

It’s the end of Luk (eel) Season. It feels cooler, with the days and nights becoming equal in length. Starchy roots of water plants die down. It is the time to burn scrub and tussock grasses to help fertilise the plants.

The UN has declared 2020 the International Year of Plant Health, understanding that ‘protecting plants is protecting life’. Thanks to the care of the garden team and recent rain, our planters pods and beds are bursting with marigold blooms, Swiss chard and an abundance of chillies.

On a recent walk around campus, we also spotted a birds nest made partly from textiles scraps; fitting material use for birds that call our fashion campus home! It was a discovery that made us appreciate the resourcefulness of our wildlife.

Let us know if you notice any wildlife and plant discoveries on campus. Wishing everyone a great start to the semester!

---

– Compiled by Julie Macindoe, Research Assistant for the School of Fashion and Textiles 

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2020 – exciting times ahead in the Year of the New Program! 

We begin the year by celebrating the many end of year graduate shows and exhibitions from across the School in 2019! With too many to include in just one issue, there will be two instalments, beginning with the undergraduate programs of the Bachelor of Fashion (Design)(Honours), the Bachelor of Fashion (Design Technology), the Bachelor of Fashion (Merchandise Management), and the Bachelor of Arts (Textile Design). Next time, we look forward seeing the masters program and catching up on staff and alumni news.

---

LOOK.BOOK.BOOK

Graduate Showcase Event
Monday 11th November, 5:00 – 7:00pm

*LOOK.BOOK.BOOK was an end of year exhibition presenting the final publications of RMIT University’s Bachelor of Fashion (Design)(Honours) and Master of Fashion (Design) graduating students alongside the launch of the Advanced Fashion and Textile Design Studios digital publication launch afs.rmit.fashion

The graduate showcase event coincided with the presentation of the Emily McPherson Awards and Grathelms Award. The recipient of the Grathelm’s Award for 2019 was Jordyn Smith. In a recent interview, Jordyn said her design approach “stemmed from an interest in sustainability and storytelling through nostalgia… us[ing] a range of found objects and imagery, […] a process she fondly referred to as ‘Frankenstein-ing'”.

---

Synthesis 2019

Bachelor of Fashion (Merchandise Management) graduate showcase
Friday 1st November, 3:00 – 5:00pm

Synthesis 2019 was an end-of-the-year event to celebrate the success of graduating students of Bachelor of Fashion (Merchandise Management). Senior Lecturer, Dr Tarun Panwar, described the showcase as an “investigation and presentation of Fashion industry trends and future perspectives through info-graphics and audio-visual. In this project, students analyzed in-depth contemporary issues & problems faced by the fashion Industry. During the investigation, each student conducted Industry expert interviews, consumer focus groups and Qualtrics Survey.”

---

InSitu

Bachelor of Arts (Textile Design) exhibition
Monday 25th November, 6:00 – 8:00pm

In Situ was an exhibition that showcased the work of the Bachelor of Arts (Textile Design) students, who explored traditional and non-traditional textile techniques across print, weave and materials development. Senior Lecturer, Dr Rebecca Van Amber said: “We had a number of wonderful comments from our industry partners of how fresh the show looked this year, so that was really wonderful to hear. The students did a great job of organising the event as well, and I believe we can all agree the show was a wonderful success!”

---

Break Down

Bachelor of Fashion (Design Technology) graduate showcase
Tuesday 12th November, 5:00 – 7:00pm

The Bachelor of Fashion Design Technology final graduate showcase defied its name, with program manager Gareth Kershaw noting that “despite the name we managed with the fabulous students & the teaching team to keep the show running! With great success, 48 students from the Associate Degree pathway presented their final capsule collection to industry, alumni, fellow staff and family and friends.”

---

Waa Weelum Growings

It’s Luk (eel) Season. Hot winds blow and grasslands dry out. Manna gums, banksia and stringy gums are in flower, providing nectar. The eels are fat and ready to eat. 

With the devastation of fire over the summer season, we continue to seek ways to learn about and with Country. At Brunswick, Waa Weelum (Home of the Crows), we are particularly aware of heat exhaustion and its impact on the birds that call our campus home, placing water around the grounds to assist with cooling and dehydration.

Remember to keep an eye out for our next instalment in two weeks, where we celebrate the achievements of our 2019 masters graduates and catch up on staff and alumni news!

---

– Compiled by Julie Macindoe, Research Assistant for the School of Fashion and Textiles 

The hot months are here – Buath gurru, Tussock Grass season. This is the last issue of the Houndstooth for 2019, a special collaborative issue put together by Harriette Richards, Zara Piles, Angela Armstrong and Julie Macindoe.

This month senior Lecturer in Fashion and Textiles, Dr Rebecca van Amber, shares her recent trip to the US; the RMIT Association of Fashion and Textile Students (RAFTS) held a natural dyeing workshop; the School of Education visited Brunswick for a Possum skin cloak workshop; we congratulate students who recently presented at the PRS; and we check in on the Garden, whose team members were recently awarded a bronze medal in the Green Impact Award hosted by RMIT Sustainability.

---

American University Visit

In October, Dr Rebecca van Amber flew to the US to visit four Universities to learn about teaching sustainable innovation and textile development and she shared some of her insights with us:

“Over the course of six days, I visited Drexel University’s Center for Functional Fabrics, where I gave a presentation about my research and some of the work we’ve been doing on our new courses here at RMIT.  I also learned how widely read Dr. Jenny Underwood’s thesis is! I then had a chance visit to the Fashion and Textile Futures Center at Jefferson University, and was in awe of their fantastic knitting and weaving facilities.  I presented again at Cornell University, liasing with Dr. Juan Hinestroza at the Textiles Nanotechnology Laboratory at Cornell University. And finally I had another last minute visit to meet with Deb Johnson, the founder and executive director of the Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator at the Pratt Institute in NYC!  It was a jam-packed trip but a fantastic opportunity to see what is happening stateside.”

---

RAFTS Club Event

Friday 18 October

The RMIT Association of Fashion and Textiles Students (RAFTS) is a student association aiming to build a community for undergraduates, postgraduates, research and vocational students enrolled (or with an interest) in Fashion and Textiles. On 18th October, RAFTS held a Natural Dyeing Workshop with REMUSE, a Melbourne-based brand that uses artisan techniques, low-impact dye technology, and natural fibres to create art pieces. The idea behind this brand is to make small, ethically produced, trans-seasonal collections. Organisers Candice (Hsin-En Cheng) and Vera (Yuqing Tang) told us a bit about the event: 

“The event started with a talk from Tamara, where she introduced the brand and the natural dyeing process. Tamara then led the students through a workshop, where they dyed a scarf with natural dyes. 

Because of the different ways the students twisted the scarves, it created a variety of beautiful patterns and textures. At the end of the workshop, the students got take home their stunning hand-dyed piece to keep and wear.”

---

Practice Research Symposium (PRS)

Saturday 26 October 

From the 23-27 October, the RMIT Practice Research symposium (PRS) was held at the Design Hub. Four PhD Candidates from the School of Fashion and Textiles presented progress reports on Saturday 26. Cecilia Heffer and Marni Stuart considered concepts of place in relation to their practice-based research, with Cecilia reimagining lace in response to transience and Marni exploring botanical observation in textile design, while Clarice Garcia speculated on the role of vintage clothing in the future and Julie Macindoe explored how people with visual impairments experience fashion. Congratulations to you all on your presentations!

---

Possum Skin Cloak Workshop

Wednesday 20 November 

The School of Education visited Brunswick in November to hold a Possum skin cloak workshop, one of three workshops held across the three RMIT campuses, that invited people to learn about and contribute to reconciliation efforts through the process of making with important indigenous materials. Aleryk Fricker shared some insights with us:

---

Green Impact

Wednesday 30 October 

At the Green Impact Awards Ceremony hosted by the RMIT Sustainability on 30th October, “The Composters”- made up of members of the Garden Committee at the Brunswick campus – were awarded a BRONZE medal! What’s more, they were also presented a Special Award for their extensive work in the Garden Studio. The morning tea event was a great opportunity to celebrate the initiatives of the many Green Impact teams from across the University.

Congratulations to the Melbourne winners “Team Awesome” and Overall Winners “Hanoi Big Team” and thanks to the RMIT Sustainability team, especially Hayley Cordes and Linda Stevenson for supporting this program.

---

‘Garden Studio’ Growings

It’s Buath gurru (Tussock Grass) Season. It’s warm. The Tussock Grass, Black Wattle and Coranderrk is in flower and there is fruit on the Kangaroo Apple. Bats catch insects and lizards and snakes are becoming active. The rains continue intermittently. 

In the Brunswick Garden Studio, the blueberry canes are flowering and the lavender and foxgloves continue to bloom, attracting the bees. In exciting news, the seeds on the Swiss Chard and Angelica are drying, almost ready for harvest, and the sprinklers have been turned back on, ready to water the beds over the summer break.

---

We look forward to recapping the end of year events and celebrations in the first issue next year, so until then, have a safe and restful end to the year!

– Compiled by Dr Harriette Richards, Angela Armstrong, Zara Piles and Julie Macindoe

Posts from the Houndstooth Wrap 1.0, from 2015-2019 are available at:

https://houndstoothwrap.wordpress.com/