Agency that matters: Participatory practices of making-with

Abstract

This article explores three recent cases of alternative, critical fashion practices from the Netherlands that create more agency for makers, wearers and matter. The cases are as follows: (1) the project ‘JOIN Collective Clothes’ by designer Anouk Beckers; (2) the ‘Feminist Needlework Party’; and (3) ‘The Linen Project’. By facilitating collective, participatory practices of making, these cases explore how to give more attention to the actual material aspects of textiles and clothes – and especially to the material aspects of making that hardly get any attention in a globalized market-driven fashion industry. All case studies highlight different material practices of working with matter – e.g. growing flax or doing needlework – that we have generally lost touch with in western consumer culture. In order to develop a deeper understanding of the importance of offering more attention to matter, these case studies have been analysed by drawing upon the theoretical discourse of ‘new materialism’ as well as the theoretical notion of ‘making-with’. By exploring these participatory cases of making-with, this article aims to offer more attention to the material aspects of fashion beyond a consumerist conception – showing how agency matters.