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Fashion and Identity Online Short Course

Course description

This online short course, led by Dr Paul Bench, will help you to explore the way we understand and express our identities through fashion, the spaces we occupy and the communities we belong to.

We will explore how to direct a sensitive approach to different identity groups in relation to current discourse on gender, sexuality and race. The session will elaborate on the way fashion functions, making it useful to anyone involved in the development and marketing of consumer products, especially those related to fashion and popular culture.

Who should attend this online short course?

This online short course is aimed at anyone interested in contemporary debates about identity and fashion. It will be helpful for designers and other creatives, because it outlines ways of understanding how and why people dress, behave and represent themselves in particular ways.

It is an excellent fit for individuals who are new to the creative sector or who aspire to work in it, and for students of fashion and creative arts who want ground their practice in solid cultural understanding.

Outcomes

After this session you will:

  • Be better able to understand how fashion relates to identity.
  • Gain a deeper understanding of the way contemporary identities and fashion relate to historical developments.
  • Think more clearly about how multiple identities form, intersect and relate to fashion.
  • Understand the ways fashion is bound up in concepts of individual and group identities.
  • Have a fresh perspective on the identities and fashion pertinent to yourself and others.
  • Have historical knowledge of key examples that illustrate fashion’s links to identity.
  • Understand the way gender has been important and understood in western fashion discourse.
  • Be able to confidently engage in contemporary discussion about fashion and identity, for example in debates about cultural appropriation.


This online short course offers:

  • Expert knowledge from industry professionals
  • Opportunities to meet other like-minded creatives
  • A chance to join the conversation with a live Q&A
  • Opportunity to upskill and develop professional practices
  • Participants will receive a certificate upon completion


Available dates

It can take a few moments for our course dates to load - if there are no available dates, please contact our customer service team who will help you find a course or email you when new dates become available.
Make an enquiry or call us on 0207 514 7015.

Details

Topics to be covered:

  • Defining Identity and Fashion
  • Historical Developments in Western Fashion and Identity
  • Cultures of Consumption
  • The Inner Self and Constructionism
  • Identity Templates - Social Archetypes
  • Conventions and Ideals
  • Gender – Masculinities and Femininities
  • Multiple Identities – Intersectionality
  • Performance and Performativity
  • Technologies of the Self and Fashion’s relationship to the body
  • Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Appropriation
  • Subcultures – Group Identities and Belonging

Materials

To take part in this online session you will need:

  • An up-to-date web browser (we recommend Chrome)
  • Microphone and headphones (a headset with a microphone function is recommended. The built-in microphone in your device would also be fine)
  • Webcam
  • Strong Internet connection - we recommend a minimum of 2 Mbps download, and 1 Mbps upload, faster if possible. You can test your network speed here - https://www.speedtest.net

We recommend you have:

  • A notebook
  • A pen
Meet the Tutor:

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This two-hour online short course will examine the ways fashion, identity and culture are interrelated.

£
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