Changing the FACE of Fashion

There are talented people here in Wales who are changing the face of fashion, quite literally.

FACE, (Fashion Academy Creating Equality), was launched in 2020, and is aimed at challenging higher education, further education, and the fashion industry to be more equal. The collective members who make up FACE are fashion academics, creating equality. They are passionate about seeing an industry that is worth an estimated $1.9 trillion by the end of 2022, which employs roughly, 430 million people worldwide, become a more equitable commodity. Xcellence Magazine caught up with Nada Koreish, who is a fashions communications lecturer at UWE also a PHD scholar and casual lecturer at Cardiff Met, to discuss the new approach to creating equity within the fashion world and how Wales, is a part of that conversation, but also putting in the action to create change.

Tell us a little about your background in the world of fashion, and what you feel your lived experiences can bring to create change?

My fashion journey started in New York, undertaking a degree with a company called Catherine Gibbs, I later studied at FIT. Whilst studying I worked a plethora of jobs to get through university, as most students do. One of those jobs was as an intern, designing menswear, which turned into a full-time job. I have worked for brands such as National Geographic, designing clothes for the crew, we were one of the first teams to use bamboo as a substitute for cotton, so my ethics around sustainability and equity began there. We found that although bamboo has antibacterial elements, we later discovered that bamboo is not that sustainable. Whilst I have a wealth of experience working for brands such as, Billabong, Betsy Johnson, Quick Silver, and alternative brands, I later embarked on creating my own brand called, Neon Pink Revolution. I have worked hard to develop my skills in illustration, teaching qualifications and gained a Masters, and I am current undertaking a Phd. During all of my academic accomplishments I have continued to freelance for well-known brands in Morocco, Egypt and then in the US, as well as high street brands, such as Primark and Asda.

After having my children, I decided to go down the academia route, and noticed that there were not a lot of Black and Brown fashion academics. As a mother, I really wanted my career to have an impact in raising representation, as I felt it was about legacy building, I want my children to not walk into a space and feel like the ‘other’ so that is why I became a member of FACE, which is a collective of people aiming to change how we do fashion and who does fashion.

Part of how we do fashion is by honouring where we get some of our creative ideas. There are many indigenous patterns and materials that I feel the Western world has taken ownership of and, often when they do, there are elements missing, which lacks depth and authenticity. We aim to eradicate bad elements of cultural appropriation. My heritage as a mixed Egyptian, Turkish person, has been used in my career in ways that has limited my opportunities, I have been pigeonholed by only been given certain accounts, such as Egyptian or Indian factory owners. When I was younger, I really didn’t understand the limitations and discrimination that mindset had on my career. It was only when I started studying further that I realised this was not appropriate and was a stereotype.

I became very passionate about exploring equity and decolonialise in fashion and I am very lucky that I get to teach a module at Cardiff Met, as an associate lecturer, that covers all of these aspects such as appropriation and appreciation to a variety of student from different backgrounds. Because they are the ones moving the world of fashion forward and I think the most important aspects should always be around ethics and minimising, if not eradicating, stereotyping.

'My Vision for the future is for people to get the credit where credit is due'