Fashioning Diaspora Space: Research project

The Fashioning Diaspora Space project investigated the presence of South Asian clothing textiles in British culture in both colonial (1850s to 1880s) and post-colonial (1980s to 2000s) times. Through this dual focus it provided historical depth to contemporary debates over British Asian fashion and multiculturalism, whilst simultaneously relating the V&A's historical collections and knowledge of South Asian textiles to their contemporary contexts of reception.

The project was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) through its strategic research programme on Diasporas, Migration and Identities. Based at the V&A and Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), the research brings together expertise from across disciplinary and institutional boundaries.

The project team were: Philip Crang (Principal Investigator, Professor of Cultural Geography, RHUL), Sonia Ashmore (Research Fellow, V&A), Christopher Breward (Acting Director of Research, V&A), Rosemary Crill (Senior Curator, South Asia, V&A), Shivani Derrington (Doctoral Research Student, Department of Geography, RHUL), Felix Driver (Professor of Human Geography, RHUL), Lesley Miller (Head of Textiles, V&A) and Helen Scalway (Research Associate, RHUL).

Read Helen's blog written during the project

Fashioning Diasporas: International Conference

May 15-16 2009

This major international conference was part of the Fashioning Diaspora Space project and brought together some of the most exciting thinkers on fashion, culture and identity to explore the relationship of diaspora communities, objects and spaces to the processes of clothing production and consumption in historical and contemporary world cultures

Download the speaker biographies

Download the conference programme

Related links

Below is a small selection of links related to the Fashioning Diaspora Space research project.

• AHRC Diasporas podcasts

  A series of podcasts, two of which are by members of the Fashioining Diaspora Space project team.

• Royal Holloway University of London

  The Royal Holloway University of London were partners in the Fashioning Diaspora Space research project.

• British Sari Story

  The British Sari Story is an annual competition asking people to use the sari as a canvas and a starting point for design and thought.

The Fashioning Diaspora Space project was funded by the Arts and Humantities Research Council.