Critical Fashion Studies Podcast

Australia’s connections with Vietnam are many and varied, not least of all in relation to fashion. Vietnam is the second largest garment exporter in the world; a place with a long history of fashion creativity, innovation, tradition, and local trade. Australians have long benefited from talented Vietnamese garment makers. So, how are the connections between fashion designers and creatives in Austr...

Australia is famous for some of the best wool in the world. However, even though we produce one quarter of the world’s wool, 98% of it is exported before it’s turned into clothing. The lack of milling, weaving, and knitting capacity in Australia means that very little knitwear is actually made here. But this wasn’t always the case.  What are small manufacturers doing to reinvigorate the Australian...

Sustainability is one of the most pressing issues facing contemporary fashion. This is particularly true for emerging designers, who hold the demands and opportunities of sustainable practice in especially sharp focus.    So how is the innovative work of these pioneering young designers being celebrated?   Today, Harriette talks to Josephine Rout, the new Senior Curator at the National Wool Museum...

The School of Fashion and Textiles at Melbourne’s RMIT University welcomes hundreds of new students every year. Students who are passionate about fashion and want to join the excitement of an industry on the cutting edge of design, technology, and digital innovation. But what do these students do when they finish their degrees and head out into the world? In today’s episode, Harriette speaks to Ju...

Last year, the Australian Made initiative organised a show in partnership with the Melbourne Fashion Festival. The models paraded the Cranbourne Royal Botanical Gardens dressed entirely in locally made garments. However, they were conspicuously barefooted.     Very few shoes are actually made here. A skills shortage and lack of machinery means that most local designers manufacture their shoes abro...

In 2016, cultural historian Christopher Breward wrote “The suit is a complex, enduring vessel of meaning whose form raises questions about identity that continue to challenge us today.”      How is the history of traditionally masculine suiting being reimagined for a new audience?       In today’s episode, Harriette speaks to E Nolan founder Emily Nolan about her made-to-measure label that caters...

From protest T-shirts to partywear, clothing has played an important role in Australia’s rich queer culture. But who ensures that these stories are preserved, remembered, and celebrated? And where are the artefacts of this history kept?   Today, we’re talking to Nick Henderson, curator at the Australian Queer Archives, about the collection’s clothing and textiles. Based at the Victorian Pride Cent...

From blockbuster shows at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to our own National Gallery of Victoria, museums and art galleries have become increasingly important sites for exhibiting fashion.   However, there is also a vibrant fashion scene within smaller, regional art galleries and museums, which often show more intimate or unconventional exhibitions.   In today’s episode, Harriette talk...

The history of queer fashion in Sydney has received a lot of attention. The first Madi Gras in 1978 cemented the city’s reputation as a gay capital. At the same time, young artists and designers were adding to the city’s colourful, camp atmosphere. But what about queer fashion in Melbourne in the 1970s and 80s? Who was making adventurous, gender non-conforming fashion in this city?     In today’s...

First Nations communities across Australia have long histories of sartorial adornment. This rich heritage is finally receiving the recognition it deserves in this country, but how can we share Indigenous Australian fashion with the world?      In this episode, Harriette talks to Wiradjuri fashion entrepreneur Denni Francisco about taking local fashion international. Denni runs Ngali, a Naarm-based...

Australia imports almost​​​​​​​​ one and a half billion garments every year, but only 3% of clothing sold is actually made here.    In light of this imbalance, what can be done to help Australian designers achieve their dreams locally?     In this episode, Harriette talks to Julia van der Sommen, the Director of Sample Room. Based in Collingwood, Julia and her team help designers launch their labe...

Welcome to season two of the Critical Fashion Studies Podcast!     This season is all about celebrating Melbourne’s fashion community — the practitioners, entrepreneurs, historians, and activists shaping the future of Australian fashion.    Over the next 10 episodes, you'll hear conversations about queer fashion history, Indigenous fashion design, tailoring for diverse bodies, the lost art of...

Harriette and Natalya return to discuss some of the exciting conversations they attended at this year’s Melbourne Fashion Week. Show notes: Melbourne Fashion Week

The National Gallery of Victoria has one of the most extensive fashion and textile collections in the southern hemisphere, holding over 8,000 works by Australian and international designers. In this season's final episode, Natalya Lusty and Britt Craig talk to the NGV's curator of international fashion and textiles, Paola Di Trocchio, about the gallery's collection and recent exhibitions, as well...

Have you ever seen a label for Ethical Clothing Australia attached to a garment and wondered what it means? In these week's episode, Harriette and Natalya interview ECA's national manager, Amanda Bresnan, about labour exploitation in the fashion industry and helping consumers make informed decisions about the clothes they buy. Show notes: ECA’s Digital Shopping Map

Earlier this year at Melbourne Fashion Festival, Nina Fitzgerald curated Thread Count , a multimedia installation of handwoven baskets and bags from Arnhem Land and the Daly River Region of the Northern Territory.  Exhibiting the objects in a fashion festival highlighted the functionality of a beautiful Indigenous craft that has gone overlooked for too long. In this week's episode, Harriette...

In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, over 55,000 refugees fled their country to start a new life in Australia. Many urgently needed jobs to support their relatives back home, and went on to play an important but overlooked role in our fashion industry as outworkers, employees who worked from home instead of at garment factories. This week’s episode is about the stories of these Vietnamese outworke...

We hear a lot about ethical fashion, but what does this mean in practice?    In this four-part series, co-hosts Harriette Richards and Natalya Lusty interview Australian fashion experts about how sustainability and diversity are shaping our local fashion industry.