RSA Lecture: Why we wear this - social change through fashion marketing

Parallel to the publication of the "De Gruyter Handbook of Fashion Marketing", editor Olga Mitterfellner FRSA and three selected authors invite you to a discussion of opportunities for social change through a different approach to marketing fashion.

Dr Sharon Hughes FRSA looks at body positivity, consumer activism and marginalizing people of colour, plus-sized individuals, and disabled communities.

Dr Chris Christodoulou FRSA discusses the intersection of music and fashion through the lens of jungle and drum and bass and its connection to late-capitalist power in postindustrial urban and exclusionary social contexts.

Teresa Havvas explores how PR can humanize campaigns and allow for empathy and introspection and Olga Mitterfellner questions the need for morals and ethics in the fashion industry as a force for a decolonized and multi-polar landscape.

This is an interactive presentation and discussion, open to the public who wants to reflect on "why we wear this" and consider opportunities for social change through marketing of fashion.

Dr Chris Christodoulou is a senior lecturer in the sociology of music and media at the University of Westminster. His teaching and published work explores the relationship between accelerated culture, social identity, and popular cultural aesthetics and discourse. In particular, he has examined the ideas and philosophy of accelerationism in the context of urban electronic dance music genres, along with the culturally resistant use of technology in the social production of esoteric or underground subcultures.

Teresa Havvas is an award-winning creative communicator, concept strategist, and fellow in higher education. She combines her academic excellence with brand expertise to intuitively guide people and businesses breaking new ground. Her portfolio career spans two decades in the luxury and street-fashion, beauty, and lifestyle sectors – as an entrepreneur, senior lecturer, author, and guest speaker.

Dr Sharon N. Hughes is a globally recognized expert in Black beauty culture, fashion marketing, and inclusive brand strategy. With over 25 years of experience across academia and industry, she brings a distinctive voice to the evolving conversation around authenticity, representation, and ethical storytelling in fashion and beauty. As a published academic, her research explores the cultural production of Black women, consumer identity, and diversity in marketing.

Olga Mitterfellner FRSA is Senior Lecturer in Fashion Business Management at the University of Westminster, UK, and an internationally recognised author and scholar specialising in fashion marketing, branding, and sustainable, mulitpolar fashion systems. She has taught at leading institutions including London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, and Mediadesign Hochschule in Munich, where she was awarded an honorary Professorship.

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