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Mapping Handmade Fashion Ecologies in Naarm/Melbourne and Meanjin/Brisbane
IRS Seminar by Dr. Yassie Samie, RMIT University, School of Fashion and Textiles
Local and community-led handmade practices in urban contexts offer a grounded alternative to the dominant global fashion system. These place-based approaches hold the power to challenge the dominant wasteful paradigm of mass production and disposability, offering a model for more sustainable and resilient fashion economies. Recent research in Australia has begun to re-examine urban, regional, and state-wide competencies, highlighting the potential of local fashion systems. Studies in South-East Queensland and Victoria, for example, point to opportunities for place-based knowledge transfer, circular communities, and local manufacturing and remanufacturing. What remains uncaptured in these studies is the role of handmade practices situated within informal economic contexts in shaping sustainable, circular, and sufficient economic systems.
As part of Valuing the Handmade, a three-year Australian Research Council–funded project, this presentation examines the findings of craft [handmade] fashion ecology mapping across the cities of Naarm/Melbourne and Meanjin/Brisbane; encompassing 120 cases of communities, brands, social enterprises, and individuals engaged in handmade fashion. These cases span formal (e.g., registered businesses) and informal (e.g., unregistered work carried out at homes and communities) cases, across the product lifecycle. This presentation synthesises learnings from two cities, highlighting diverse practices across lifecycles and local handmade potentials.
Dr. Yassie Samie is a Postdoc Fellow at RMIT School of Fashion and Textiles, focusing on sustainable circular fashion and textiles ecosystems. Her research examines the relationship between the urban environment and circular fashion systems and textile waste prevention. Her PhD on urban metabolism for unwanted textiles earned nomination for the "Emerging Circular Leader Award" by the Australian Circular Economy Hub and Planet Ark Environmental Foundation. With international experience in research, education, and project management, she recently managed the Refashioning Project, developing a circular design guide for large-scale fashion production. Her current project, Valuing the handmade, is funded by the Australian Research Council, investigating a place-based and regenerative approach to circular fashion and textile economies.