Centre for Applied Research of the Faculty of Digital Media & Creative Industries
Special Professorship in Fashion Design and Identity
The special professorship in Fashion Design and Identity (FD&I) is part of the professorship in Fashion Research & Technology. FD&I approaches fashion as a cultural phenomenon and examines the effects of globalization and digitization in the context of industry, business, consumer behavior, and education.
Digitization and Sustainability
FD&I operates from a practice-oriented design approach, focusing on two main perspectives. Firstly, the cultural perspective emphasizes inclusivity in fashion, examining how digitization, the internet, and globalization are transforming fashion (and its values). This includes a specific focus on the implications for the decolonization and de-westernization of fashion. Secondly, there is an innovation perspective focusing on sustainability-driven innovation, where digitization of the field plays a crucial role.
Professor José Teunissen
As of May 1, 2023, and for a period of four years, the special professorship FD&I (Fashion Design & Identity) is led by professor José Teunissen. Since March 1, 2023, she has been appointed as the program manager of the Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI). Teunissen has an extensive track record in the international field of fashion research. She has served as a professor of Fashion Design at ArtEZ (as one of the first professors in the Netherlands) and later became a professor at the University of the Arts in London. Additionally, Teunissen is known as a curator for various museums and exhibitions, including the Arnhem Fashion Biennale, Boijmans van Beuningen, and Museum of the Image in Breda.
Part of Fashion Research & Technology
Fashion Design & Identity is embedded within the core professorship Fashion Research & Technology, led by professor Troy Nachtigall. Both professorships explore the digital transformation of fashion and its impact on the discipline and society from a practice-oriented design approach. FD&I adds a humanities perspective; a welcome addition given that topics of diversity and inclusion are increasingly integrated into research and education at the AUAS (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences).
Fashion Research & Technology, as a core professorship, is closely connected to the research program of the professorships within FDMCI (Faculty of Digital Media and Creative Industry) and the Centres of Expertise CoECI and CoEAAI. Additionally, the professorship is involved with the Centre for Economic Transformation and related projects from Urban Technology, such as the Circolab SPRONG project. The professorship also plays a key role in New Ecosystems in Textile work (NET) and the Erasmus project Transitions. Within the faculty, the professorship collaborates with various educational departments, including AMFI, HBO-ICT, CMD (Communication and Multimedia Design), and the Digital Society School, focusing on AI, Blockchain, VR, IoT, and the Makers Minor.
FD&I is a valuable addition to the Dutch fashion professorships associated with New Ecosystems in Textile work (NET). In addition to FR&T (Fashion Research & Technology), these include the ArtEZ professorship (which focuses on a materials science approach centered on ‘ego’ and ‘commons’) and the Saxion professorship SFC (which has a textile-technical approach).
Within the Faculty of Digital Media and Creative Industry, the FR&T professorship works closely with AMFI, which trains the fashion professionals and changemakers of tomorrow. With José Teunissen in a dual role as special professor and as program manager of AMFI, students, staff, and researchers benefit from a close alignment between theory, research, and education. Furthermore, FD&I also creates a valuable bridge between research and education at the faculty level.