Heritage-Inspired Fashion and Contemporary Design Production (Advert Ref: RDF18/DES/BARRON)

This RDF Studentship project will examine culture-inspired fashion design to study the role and efficacy of contemporary fashion design practices that explicitly draw upon cultural heritage traditions. As such, the Studentship will critically and/or practically examine the ways in which fashion designers research and utilise heritage-based clothing styles and textiles for contemporary fashion products, collections and designer/brand identities. The Studentship will enable the study of specific case studies of the ongoing role of heritage within national contemporary fashion establishments (evident within a range of fashion producers and designers such as Asprey, Burberry, Mulberry, Aquascutum, Williams Handmade, or Vivienne Westwood) and/or international examples of contemporary heritage and culture-infused design identities and productions (exemplified by designers and brands such as Issey Miyake, Shanghai Tang, Rimzim Dadu, Jotaro Saito, Iman Aldebe, or Asiya Bareeva). The Studentship research will enable the candidate to engage in historical, conceptual and primary research approaches that will subsequently produce a research-rich evaluation of heritage within modern fashion. Moreover, the research may also equally include more practice-based interrogations of the dynamic and creative role and function that heritage can and does play within modern design processes with regard to the continuity of long-established fashion houses and manufacturers, and how heritage and tradition is balanced with contemporary styling and development and the practical sourcing of heritage-based materials and clothing aesthetics (that go beyond cyclical ‘retro’ seasonal styles and collections). Therefore, the PhD Studentship research project will explore and evaluate the impact and efficacy of heritage and culture-inspired practices and processes within modern fashion design and garment production. Consequently, the research can point to future trends nationally or internationally with regard to this practice and the ongoing processes of utilizing heritage. This may be in the context of established fashion producers and more recent designer entrants into the productive field, the industry-facing pressures heritage-based fashion potentially faces, or the curation role that culture-inspired fashion design can play in terms of sustaining heritage production forms, textiles and styles within the contemporary fashion industry.

This RDF Studentship is suitable for applicants from a fashion design, marketing or communication academic background and for applicants currently working within a practice-based fashion and fashion design context.

Eligibility and How to Apply:
Please note eligibility requirement:
• Academic excellence of the proposed student i.e. 2:1 (or equivalent GPA from non-UK universities [preference for 1st class honours]); or a Masters (preference for Merit or above); or APEL evidence of substantial practitioner achievement.
• Appropriate IELTS score, if required.
• Applicants cannot apply for this funding if currently engaged in Doctoral study at Northumbria or elsewhere.

For further details of how to apply, entry requirements and the application form, see:
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/research/postgraduate-research-degrees/how-to-apply/

Please note: Applications that do not include a research proposal of approximately 1,000 words (not a copy of the advert), or that do not include the advert reference (e.g. RDF18/…) will not be considered.

Deadline for applications: 28 January 2018

Start Date: 1 October 2018

Northumbria University takes pride in, and values, the quality and diversity of our staff. We welcome applications from all members of the community. The University holds an Athena SWAN Bronze award in recognition of our commitment to improving employment practices for the advancement of gender equality and is a member of the Euraxess network, which delivers information and support to professional researchers