How First Nations fashion design can rewrite painful memories and be a powerful method of healing

Posted on by Treena Clark
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First Nations fashion show, Darwin, 2023. Source: Ad(dressing) Indigeneity

By Treena Clark, University of Technology Sydney

May 24, 2024

Around the world, fashion researchers, designers and artists are exploring the links between clothing, adornment and wellbeing.

“Enclothed cognition” considers the psychology of clothing, and designers are exploring how to create garments to heal the wearer.

First Nations people understand the power of connection to cultural clothing and adornment. Items like possum and kangaroo skin cloaks can contribute to healing and cultural practice.

But it’s not only traditional clothing that can lead to healing. In Australia, there is a rise of designers and artists creating and fashioning painful Protectionist-era clothing on the runway and in the galleries.

By recreating clothing tied to painful and traumatic memories and histories, these designers and artists hope to share these horrific policies, rewrite the meaning behind them, and move forward in healing.

Read the full article at The Conversation!