Fashion Values: Society (FutureLearn)

Fashion Values: Society (FutureLearn)

Examine the relationship between fashion and society, using fashion activism to challenge social injustice. Understand the links between fashion and society through a range of perspectives. Fashion and society are deeply intertwined through everyday actions, behaviours and business models, and can be both empowering and exploitative.

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On this four-week course from London College of Fashion, you’ll explore how fashion can paradoxically be a force for societal good, creating agency, collaboration, dignity and distinction between people, or a cause and perpetuator of injustice.
Social injustice in and through fashion is experienced widely and can perpetuate inequality and exploitation. By the end of this course you’ll understand how activism can be used to challenge this and be inspired by intersectional perspectives from activists around the world, learning from historical and contemporary case studies and resources.
You’ll explore the process of change in relation to fashion and society, exploring various models that provide ways of thinking, feeling or working towards change. You’ll learn about where power lies to create change and to challenge social injustice in fashion. You’ll examine many approaches to and models of activism, as well as the importance of resilience.

Use design thinking to develop fashion activities and behaviours that contribute to social justice
You’ll be supported through the design thinking process to define a specific problem and generate ideas in response to the question: ‘How will we use fashion activism to challenge social injustice?’

Respond to sustainability challenges with London College of Fashion
This course is led by fashion and sustainability experts from Centre for Sustainable Fashion and shares knowledge from world-leading fashion practitioners and researchers.
With over 85,000 learners on our FutureLearn courses to date, you’ll gain valuable insights from fellow fashion and sustainability changemakers worldwide.

What topics will you cover?

  • Fashion and Society
  • Social Justice, Power and Change
  • Activism and Fashion
  • How will we use fashion activism to challenge social injustice?

Learning on this course
You can take this self-guided course and learn at your own pace. On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Identify social injustice in fashion from intersectional perspectives
  • Explore ideas of power and change
  • Engage with historical and contemporary fashion activism that challenges social injustice in fashion
  • Practice design thinking to develop, prototype, evaluate and communicate fashion activism that can challenge social injustice

Who is the course for?
This course will empower learners with the tools to address challenges facing fashion today.
This includes students, sustainability professionals, fashion and business professionals, educators, designers, strategists, and communicators.

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