Fashion Revolution Netherlands invites you into the relationship between fashion and colonialism. How can fashion address and redress colonial wrongs? We’ll explore the unjust power dynamics between formerly colonised and colonial nations, between industry and workers, between Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) and white people, between humans and nature.
Contrary to common belief, colonialism is not a phenomenon of the past. Today’s fashion supply chains still follow the same trade routes as they did 150 years, during the height of European colonisation. They continue to be based on the exploitation of both humans and nature. What is ‘in fashion’ is dictated by corporations that are based in formerly colonial nations. Millions of people, especially indigenous women and women of colour, are still subjected to racism and other forms of injustice. Colonial mentalities and practices are deeply embedded in the industry. In this session, we uncover these issues and much more.
About the speakers:
Leroy Niemel – former brand manager of Amsterdam based fashion house Filling Pieces – is a brand culture expert operating at the intersection of cultures. Leroy is founder of Canvas Black is a form fluid cultural advancement venture which uses creativity and education to empower and inspire the advancement of society. Canvas Black aims to make a positive contribution to the cultural conversation through cultural consulting, brand strategy, education, art and fashion.
Jeanne de Kroon is the founder of Amsterdam based fashion label Zazi Vintage, a social and environmental activist in the sustainability movement and a consultant for both the UN and global businesses aiming to facilitate a new narrative. Zazi Vintage is a brand that was founded in 2017 and connects consumers back to the story behind cloth one dress at a time. Working both circular, with natural fibers and with women’s led artisanal projects along the United Nations EFI, ZAZI focusses on the environmental and social impact behind the garment industry while weaving the stories of nature and women together.
Zinzi de Brouwer is Head of Society & Context at AMFI, and an advocator for fashion as a form of healing, hope and resilience. She founded artisanal collective @StudioPalha, in which she works together with female artisans from Mozambique in the form of design residencies offering inner-connections and co-evolution based practices with designers. This centres on the upholding of inherent human rights by learning from indigenous cultures, viewing fashion as interconnected discipline that gives voice to marginalised communities. As a fashion strategist, researcher and educator, Zinzi utilises fashion as a transformational medium for social and environmental change.
While studying Fashion Design at the HKU University of the Arts in Utrecht, Xaviera Aubri simultaneously spend all her remaining time assisting in styling. Living and learning in London cemented her love for styling. After graduating the transitioned into a position of Fashion Editor at ELLEgirl Netherlands, the sister publication of ELLE (Hearst Magazines). In 2009 a new age of independent styling emerged and offered ways to merge her love of fashion, art, costume history and Indigenous cultures into new projects both editorial and commercial. Believing that style encompasses so much more than fashion alone she continually seeks to include art, interior and storytelling in her image making. Always set on evolving, she has also worked as a fashion writer for AD Algemeen Dagblad and commercial clients such as MyTheresa.com and Karla Otto London. Indigenous cultures and (couture) craftmanschip in equal measure, make her heart beat faster. Clients: VOGUE, GLAMOUR, LINDA, Philips, Karl Kagerfeld, O’Neill, Rituals, Tommy Hilfiger, ELLE Decoration and Bijenkorf.
Bregje Lampe is an experienced fashion journalist and an educator at AMFI. Before she founded Modelogica, a newsletter about the logic behind the looks, she was responsible for the fashion coverage in Het Parool (2005-2012) and de Volkskrant (2012-2019). She loves to write; she always looks at the bigger picture and in her accessible writing she firmly frames fashion within society. Also, she is just as curious now as she was in 2005, when she wrote her very first feature article (on a giant tortoise).
