Session 2: Fashion-able: body signalling beyond appearance
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11.30 – 13.00 - Thursday, 22 September 2022
Inclusive design has not often wandered into the realms of fashion to date, yet body shapes, human needs and individual attitudes differ from the mainstream images and ideals we are bombarded with. For decades people have had to fit themselves into depersonalised body shapes and sizes dictated by the world of fashion that can seem alien and different. Age, ability, gender and race are just a few of the characteristics that now need to be considered as we create visual and functional styles that empower and enable.
This session looks beyond pattern, garment and standardisation to consider the role of personal preference, materiality and textile technology. We look at how we can enable each one of the 7.8 billion of us to simply style, adorn, dress and signal our bodies in a way that we want, functionally, emotionally and aspirationally.
In conversation: 11.30 – 12.00
- Sue Timney speaks to Anya Hindmarch
Lightning talks: 12.00 – 12.30
- Chair: Jonathan Kaufmann
- Speakers: Jonathan Kaufmann, Ackeem Ngenya, Ellen Fowles, Laura Salisbury & Gopika Rajan
Panel discussion: 12.30 – 13.00
- Chair: Ishwari Thopte
- Panellists: Lucinda Graham, Miles Kilburn and Issie Bickerstaff
Anya Hindmarch and Sue Timney
Session 2 Presenters
Keynotes
Anya Hindmarch
Anya Hindmarch founded her business in London in 1987 and it has since grown into a global brand. A passionate advocate of British design and arts, Anya is an Emeritus trustee of both the Royal Academy of Arts and the Design Museum and a trustee of The Royal Marsden. In 2017, Anya Hindmarch was awarded a CBE in recognition for her contribution to the British fashion industry and has received several notable industry awards including a British Fashion Award. In 2021, Anya published her first book,If In Doubt Wash Your Hair.
Sue Timney
The designer Sue Timney has worked in Britain, Europe and Japan for over thirty years creating interior projects celebrating her own brand of exotic classicism under the TIMNEY FOWLER and SUE_TIMNEY banners. The work ranges from commercial and residential interior architecture to product design for interiors and fashion. She was made a Visiting Professor and Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art in 2007, holds the Textile Institute’s Design Medal and nominated for the Prince Philip Designer's Prize by the Royal College of Art. From 2012 - 2014 Sue was President of the British Institute of Interior Design (BIID) and is she is currently a director of BIID. She was presented with the Merit Award from the Institute in 2022 for excellence in interior design practice; a contribution to the development of the Institute and a commitment to the wider field of design education.
Lightning talks
Jonathan Kaufmann
Biography coming soon
Ackeem Ngenya
Biography coming soon
Ellen Fowles
Ellen Fowles is an adaptivewear designer based in London. She makes clothing that supports wearers both during receipt of medical care and in everyday use, providing comfort and destigmatising the experience of being a patient. She practices under a collaborative, human-centred design methodology, achieved through intergenerational co-design and ethnographic research. Ellen offers accessibility by providing wearers with different functional and dressing options, with a considered aesthetic that prioritises dignity. Her aim is to create garments that people of all ages and abilities can enjoy. She is currently a Research Assistant at Goldsmiths University and an Associate Lecturer at the Royal College of Art and London College of Fashion.
Laura Salisbury
Dr. Laura Salisbury is the founder of the Wearable MedTech lab based in the Helen Hamlyn Centre of Design (RCA) and the recipient of a prestigious UKRI Future Leader Fellowship. Salisbury won the 2021 Mayor of London Award for Health and has a patent pending with a strong Freedom to Operate Report for her revolutionary PowerBead technology to assist post-stroke upper limb recovery. The PowerBead technology has received interest from private clinics in UK and USA, a major London hospital, and global media, including The Times and BBC.
Gopika Rajan
Dr. Gopika Rajan has a Ph.D. from the University of Exeter. Her expertise includes the application of graphene technology to produce washable, flexible, lightweight conductive textiles. She has recently been appointed as the UKRI postdoctoral researcher and is soon to join the Helen Hamlyn Centre of Design at the Royal College of Art.
Panelists
Issie Bickerstaff
Biography coming soon
Lucinda Graham
Biography coming soon
Miles Kilburn
Miles Kilburn is an Industrial Designer based in Warwick with a passion for human-centered, community-led design.
His award winning design: Breathe is a chest binder that uses smart technology to change its shape and size at the press of a button. This enables the wearer to adjust the fit and tightness of the binder without having to find a private space, making the practice safer and more dignified.
As a cisgender man Miles has worked closely with transgender and non-binary chest binder wearers to ensure their experiences are properly represented throughout the project; highlighting the importance of using co-design principles when exploring inclusive fashion.
Chair
Ishwari Thopte
Named as one of the ‘25 Forward Thinkers Defining the Future of Fashion’ by FashNerd, and included in the Top 100 women in Fashion Tech by WOW London, Ishwari is a certified business mentor and coach. She has helped design and deliver numerous business development programs in the creative industries. From online short courses across University of the Arts, to supporting businesses on virtual accelerator programmes at Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and Istituto Marangoni, Ishwari works across countries and platforms with a focus on sustainability, technology, inclusivity and leadership.
Prior to her freelance career, Ishwari worked at Centre for Fashion Enterprise (London's pioneering fashion business incubator) for over 8 years. Ishwari is also a published research author, frequent keynote speaker and experienced panel moderator having participated and spoken at global events such as SXSW, Sonar, ICT Spring Luxembourg, Millennial 2020, Decoded Fashion etc. She enjoys contributing to various publications including Vogue Germany and Eco Fashion World as well as sitting on the Independent Fashion Advisory Board.
In her free time, Ishwari loves travelling around the world, learning new styles of dance and practising different forms of yoga and meditation.
