The final results: New Fashion Narratives

For this year’s exhibition program, FASHIONCLASH invited four fashion makers to collaboratively develop the curatorial concept for New Fashion Narratives at Bureau Europa. Earlier this year, they took part in a residency week in Maastricht, which led to the creation of this year’s curatorial framework. The exhibition, titled ‘Collective Movements’, is curated by Jonas Zitter, Paula Dischinger, Rafael Kouto, and Tjerre Lucas Bijker, and explores how fashion can act as a tool for connection, resistance, and collective action — operating at the intersection of fashion design, activism, and communal practice. The curators aim to present works that transcend dominant systems by embracing cultural rituals, shared knowledge, and collaboration.

This vision came to life through projects that prioritized co-creation and community engagement. Alessandro Santi & Brankica Sanadrovic presented The Memory of Skin, using participatory body casting sessions and living SCOBY materials to reflect the interdependence between microbial cultures and human relationships. mare mito showcased A Sewing Machine of One's Own, developed with women from a social sewing workshop in Naples, celebrating garments inherited from grandmothers and empowered by generations of women. CIMO from Croatia displayed an archive of over 100 embroidered pieces created in therapeutic workshops with asylum seekers, Ukrainian refugees, and elderly locals, reflecting the overlooked labor of women's handcrafts.

Cultural resistance and activism manifested through Mariia Pavlyk's Spero, connecting Ukrainian Tripillia–Cucuteni symbolism with traditional Hutsul weaving techniques, and Kantamanto Social Club, which presented upcycling activations in collaboration with communities across Ghana, Canada, Egypt, and India. The Platform transformed a garden fence into monumental angel wings displaying a collaborative collection by eight designers, while G(end)er Swap invited participants to hack the binary through DIY customization, centering textiles as tools for self-expression and resistance.

The exhibition also featured interactive works that challenged conventional fashion systems: Kim Gemmink's In The Corners Of A Circle offered a collection without defined looks, Giada Lou Hammel's DREIHUT critiqued smartphone culture through collective movement, and Hannah Smith's The Gentle Frame explored disability through wearable art. Karl Joonas Alamaa & Lisette Sivard documented the 125-kilometer performative fashion show MANIA GRANDIOSA, questioning fashion's obsession with novelty.

Through these diverse practices, ‘Collective Movements’ demonstrated fashion's potential as a radical tool for building community, preserving memory, and imagining alternative futures

New Fashion Narratives participants: Alia Mascia, Alessandro Santi & Brankica Sanadrovic, Anita Ferrara, ii by Mariia Pavlyk, Kantamanto Social Club, CIMO –Center for Research of Fashion and Clothing, Elfje, Maizie, Karl Joonas Alamaa & Lisette Sivard, Fiona Elisa Carnuccio, mare mito, Margarida Coelho, Júlia Galarza Arévalo, Manon Dufau, Hannah Smith, Giada Lou Hammel, G(end)er Swap, Kim Gemmink, SWARM MAG, The Platform, ZELIGHD, XEROXED.

Curatorial concept: 'Collective Movement'

‘Collective Movements’ explores the power of radical togetherness—of belonging not as a static state, but as an active, co-creative force. It speaks to the richness born from communal working, the intensity of exchange, and the weaving of a multitude of voices into a shared fabric.

Here, movement is more than motion—it is the activation of alternative perspectives and the materialization of counter-spaces, it relates to the choreographies of process, repetition and making. These movements exist in places where the private meets the public, where we make noise out of collective urgency, and where making becomes political.

Together, ‘Collective Movements’ ask us to consider how we move, who we move with, and what we move for—how practices of fashion become acts of connection and resistance.

"Curatorial statement:

‘Collective Movements’ is a fashion exhibition that highlights projects and platforms rooted in collaboration, activism, and community co-creation. It brings together collectives, grassroot initiatives, and designers working with communities to explore fashion as a tool for connection and resistance.

WHO The exhibition prioritizes collectives, platforms and co-creation projects whose work reside in activistic spheres and directly work with the communities they aim to be a voice for. We therefore encourage fashion practitioners/ fashion practices to respond to the open call who work with/are activist groups, grassroot organizations and co-creation communities.

While the focus is not on individual designers, they are welcome to apply if they can clearly demonstrate how their practice aligns with community-centred co-creation and activism. — this may therefore me a good question to ask in the open call.

We also welcome applications from activist groups who use fashion-related practices in protest—such as making textile banners or incorporating performative dress in demonstrations. As curators, we will additionally reach out to such groups directly.

WHAT Additionally, we are interested in showcasing the process that comes with this specific territory of participatory and activistic design practice. Beyond showcasing the physical results of these practices (garments, photography, publications, protest-banners, etc.), we wish to show process-based work that gives insight into the behind-thescenes of participatory and activistic design practices—think of film/photography documentaries narrating how

a collective has worked with a specific community, live activations of community gatherings, co-creation workshops, research archives, etc. In short, Collective Movements aims to curate a selection of work and organizations that sit at the intersection of fashion design, activism, and communal practices. It aims “[t]o weave in cultural practices, rituals, ceremonies, and knowledge systems based on collaboration rather then domination. To become accomplices to the mycelial networks that sustain life ways.”

NEW FASHION NARRATIVES: MEET THE curatorial TEAM

For this year’s exhibition programme, as part of FASHIONCLASH Festival 2025, four independent fashion practitioners were invited by FASHIONCLASH to form a curatorial team and collaborate on the concept for the New Fashion Narratives exhibition.

This year’s curatorial team includes Jonas Zitter, Paula Dischinger, Rafael Kouto, and Tjerre Lucas Bijker, were invited by FASHIONCLASH to co-create the concept for this year’s exhibition during a Residency Week in April 2025.

Jonas Zitter
As co-founder of Netherlands-based fashion platform and podcast KledingCast, Jonas is fully focused on connecting all Dutch fashion communities. After founding KledingCast in 2020, he quickly realised there are many pockets of creativity spread throughout the country. Alongside the co-founder, his mission has been to champion the brands and creatives pushing the envelope in the Lowlands, all while fostering a more inclusive cultural landscape. With meaningful dialogue at its core, KledingCast—and Jonas himself—ensure that the fashion conversation continues to evolve.

Paula Dischinger
Paula is a multidisciplinary artist and designer, holding a Bachelor in Fashion Design from the Institut Français de la Mode in Paris. Her final collection was featured in the opening show of Paris Fashion Week 2023. She is currently completing her Master's in Performance Art: Society at Central Saint Martins in London. Her work explores the hand-brain cooperation, as well as the dynamics between individual and community. A focus lies on public spaces. Deeply tactile and conceptually driven, she creates experiences that merge the personal with the collective. Her practice is rooted in haptics, presence, and socially engaged exploration. In 2024, she participated in Clash House with HERDENTIER.

Rafael Kouto
Rafael, who lives and works between Lausanne, Maastricht, and Venice, is Swiss with Togolese origins. A creative director, fashion and textile designer, as well as a researcher and teacher, he specializes in upcycling methods and sustainable, engaging strategies with a particular focus on open-source practices, heritage, and craftsmanship. Currently, he is a Research Fellow in Fashion & Textile Material at the Future Materials Bank at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, in collaboration with the Research Collective for Decoloniality and Fashion.

Tjerre Lucas Bijker
Tjerre operates at the intersection of fashion design, artistic research, and queer theory. As a design researcher and fashion practitioner, they challenge fashion narratives by exploring alternative perspectives on queer and subversive bodies. They critique how capitalist fashion imposes normalized imagery on non-normative identities. Their work spans multiple formats, including publications, performances, garments, and workshops, using design research, archival exploration, and social design. Through counter-archiving and self-publishing, they aim to recover overlooked histories and expand fashion's discourse within socio-political contexts.

Open call New Fashion Narratives 2025

Are you a creator or platform rooted in collaboration, activism, and/or community co-creation? Would you like to collaborate with communities to explore fashion as a tool for connection and resistance? FASHIONCLASH invites you to become part of New Fashion Narratives: Collective Movements, as part of FASHIONCLASH Festival 2025.

‘Collective Movements' is an exhibition concept that explores fashion as a tool for connection, resistance, and collective action. Four independent fashion practitioners, Jonas Zitter, Paula Dischinger, Rafael Kouto, and Tjerre Lucas Bijker, were invited by FASHIONCLASH to co-create the concept for this year’s exhibition during a Residency Week in April 2025. With ‘Collective Movements’, they aim to curate a selection of work that sits at the intersection of fashion design, activism, and communal practices, embracing cultural rituals, knowledge systems, and collaboration over domination.

Collective Movements

The concept reflects on the power of radical togetherness, the role fashion plays in co-creation, activism, and community, and highlights collectives and grassroots initiatives using fashion as a means of connection and resistance. It aims to move beyond the physical aspects of fashion to explore the activation of alternative perspectives and the creation of counter-spaces. The work/ projects that could be submitted:

• Are rooted in collaboration, activism, and community co-creation, engaging directly with the communities they aim to represent;

• Work with collectives, platforms, or co-creation projects that are rooted in activism, and engage directly with the communities they aim to support;

• Use fashion as a tool for connection and resistance, questioning the conventional narratives around fashion and highlighting its potential as a form of activism;

• Explore the process of participatory and activistic design, providing insight into the behind-the-scenes workings of collective creation, rather than just showcasing finished products.

Photos: Participants of 2023, Fynnandmathis - Photo 1: Laura Knipsael, Photo 2: Ralph Diepstraaten

The curatorial team is interested in any kind of output related to community and co-creation, aiming to highlight process-based work that provides insight into the behind-the-scenes of these practices. This could include, but is not limited to:

• Garments;

• Textile art;

• Photography (series);

• Publications;

• Protest banners;

• Documentaries or (short) films that narrate how a collective has worked with a community;

• Live activations or community gatherings;

• Co-creation workshops;

• Research archives or project development stages.

While the focus is on collectives and platforms, individual (fashion) practitioners are also encouraged to apply - provided you can clearly demonstrate how your practice aligns with community-centered co-creation and activism.

Phases leading up to the exhibition

Phase 1: Kick-off & Pre-production (July - August 2025)
You join an online kick-off meeting together with all participants to outline the process. By the end of this phase, you will need to provide PR materials (images and texts)

Phase 2: Exhibition Preparation (September – November 2025)
During this period, you will be in contact with the Creative Producer regarding the exhibition preparations.

Phase 3: Presentation at FASHIONCLASH Festival 2025
The exhibition will be presented from Friday 14 November to Sunday 16 November 2025. You are present at the exhibition setup and dismantling.