Bio
Noorin Khamisani is a fashion designer, educator and researcher, focused on design for sustainability, informed by two decades of professional practice.
She was among the first wave of the pioneering ethical fashion movement in Europe in the mid-2000s, setting up the independent fashion brand Outsider in London in 2009. She continues to exhibit and sell her work internationally as well as lecturing in fashion design.
Noorin holds an MA in Fashion Futures from UAL London College of Fashion and a BA (Hons) in Fashion Design from UCA Rochester. She is currently a Lecturer in Fashion and Textiles at the University of Portsmouth and co-lead of the Fashion, Textiles and Material Futures Research and Innovation Group. Previously she was part of the founding faculty at the Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation (DIDI) where she led and implemented the fashion design curriculum, developed in collaboration with Parsons The New School. Challenging the current system is a key theme in her courses, with students free to reimagine the future of fashion practice.
Her current research focuses on evolving design processes for circular systems, sustainability and fashion education. She is the co-founder of Teaching Fashion Together an innovative platform created with Beata Wilczak to prompt critical reflection, cross cultural-exchange and aims at tangible ideas for formats and spaces that enable collaboration between educators internationally.
Noorin is a member of the Union of Concerned Researchers in Fashion, a global group whose aim is to push for systemic change in the fashion industry. She contributes to the glossary working group which offers clarity in the use of terminology in fashion. She is also a Fellow of the RSA (The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce). In 2022 Noorin became a member of FACE: Fashion Academics Creating Equality.
Publications/Research
Academic Papers
2023: Khamisani, N. & Wilczek, B. (forthcoming). The Digital Shift: Evolution and rapid digitisation of fashion design education during the Covid-19 pandemic. “Can Fashion Save The World?” The Responsible Fashion Series.
2021: LEHTONEN, Miikka Juhani; KHAMISANI, Noorin; GATTO, Gionata. Playful absence / absence of play. Dec 2021, Design and Technology Education: an International Journal, [S.l.], v. 26, n. 4, p. 20-36. ISSN 1360-1431.
2021: KHAMISANI, N. Fashion Design For Multiple Lives And Users. 12 Nov 2021, Fashion Practice. The Journal of Design, Creative Process & the Fashion Industry.
2021: KHAMISANI, N. Exploring Upcycling As a Design Process Through Fashion Education. 15 Jun 2021, State-of-the-Art Upcycling Research and Practice : Proceedings of the International Upcycling Symposium 2020. Sung, K., Singh, J. & Bridgens, B. (eds.). Springer, p. 87-91.
Conference Paper Presentations
2022: “The Fashion Kitchen” A case study on integrating biomaterials into fashion design education. Sept 2022 The Future of International Fashion and Design Education, Instituto Marangoni.
A collaborative research project conducted with Vanessa Gate and Mirko Daneluzzo, reflecting on the impact of integrating biomaterials into fashion education. [Video: Recording of the presentation].
2022: “Digital Sustainability” presentation as part of the Diversifying Digital Fashion Panel at The FACE summit. [Video: Recording of the presentation].
2021: An examination of the process of decolonizing the study of fashion history. Oct 2021 The Digital Multilogue On Fashion Education.
Research project conducted at DIDI exploring the process of decolonizing fashion history through a collaboration with an Arabic historical costume archive. I presented the paper at this peer reviewed interdisciplinary online symposium hosted by the American University in Paris, France.
2021: The Digital Shift: Evolution & Rapid Digitisation Of Fashion Design Education During The Covid-19 Pandemic. Oct 2021 Responsible Fashion Series.
A digital research project conducted with Beata Wilczak at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, following an independent workshop conducted with international fashion design educators. We explored the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on fashion design education and presented the paper at this peer reviewed conference hosted by the University of Antwerp.
Conference Workshops
2022: Teaching Digital Sustainability Together, Sept 2022. Digital Research Humanities Arts (DRHA) Conference
The Teaching “Digital Sustainability” Together workshop aims to create a space for educators from a variety of regions and practices to come together and share their perspectives on teaching the arts and humanities, where and how they address or incorporate digital sustainability within their own locally-centric setting in order to learn from each other.
2021: Teaching Fashion Together: Sharing Locally-Centric Fashion Education Practices, Oct 2021. The Digital Multilogue On Fashion Education.
The “Teaching Fashion Together” workshop is a part of a collaborative research project on diverse, inclusive, sustainable and socially-just fashion pedagogies, initiated by Noorin Khamisani and Beata Wilczek. It invites fashion educators from a variety of regions to share their perspectives on locally-centric fashion education practices. It prompts critical reflection and cross cultural-exchange and aims at tangible ideas for formats and spaces that enable collaboration bet- ween educators. The workshop will be exploring examples of students‘ work that reflect different localities, and addressing the following questions: What are the “new,” “alternative” and “emerging” fashion pedagogies? How can we collectively re-imagine fashion education and teach fashion together?
Fashion Education Resource
2022 Khamisani, N. Gate, V. The Fashion Kitchen. Cooking Up New Materials For Fashion Practice.
A bio material “cookbook” with a showcase of related student work. This downloadable book showcases the work of students at the Dubai Institute of Design & Innovation (DIDI) and aims to inspire educators, students and fashion designers to explore the potential of cooking up your own materials.
Professional Practice
Outsider: Sustainable & Ethical fashion since 2009.
https://www.outsiderfashion.com/
Exhibitions
2020: iD Dunedin Fashion Symposium Exhibition, New Zealand: Critical Making: Contemporary Fashion Practices Symposium Exhibition (online): Fashion Design For Multiple Lives.
2019: Dubai Design Week, UAE. DI-RES: Responsive Wearables.
2019: London Design Festival, MA Artefact Pattern Footwear Futures: Fashion Design For Multiple Lives (MA Project).
2018: Victoria & Albert, London, UK: Fashion Now/Fashion Futures area of the Fashioned From Nature exhibition.
2011: ReAct Fashion Competition Finalist 2011: Entered a capsule collection made from recycled polyester and recycled wool blend fabrics with support from the Class Eco Hub. Łódż, Poland, October 26. A video of the show is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q44Adfa9wno
Press
2022: The Digital Multilogue, special edition on Fashion Education 2021. ‘What kinds of fashion education are needed now? A global choir of voices and ideas, ’ Fashion is a great teacher – The fashion education podcast by Renate Stauss & Franziska Schreiber, 10 October, (35’) https://fashionisagreatteacher.buzzsprout.com/
2022: Issey Miyake – a conceptual fashion designer for the many The Conversation (UK edition).
2022: Issey Miyake, inventeur d’une mode conceptuelle et grand public The Conversation (Édition française).
2022: Critical Making: Contemporary Fashion Practices by Margo Barton, Jane Malthus, & Moira White – Scope, The Journal of Contemporary Research Topics in Art & Design (special fashion issue).
2022: How Re-Loving Our Clothes Can Help The Climate Crisis – University of Portsmouth (UK) April 13.
2021: Episode 4 Ethical & Sustainable Fashion Strategies with Noorin Khamisani – Fashion Knowledge Podcast, August,
2021: Rematerialize Launch Series 1 Panel Discussion. Sharjah Architecture Triennale (UAE) October 9.
2021: Upcycling Is The Answer To Polluting Fast Fashion, Says Dubai Designer – The National (UAE) July 5.
2021: How Academic Professors Can Teach Sustainability to Students That Are Based In The Middle East – Curated Today (UAE) February 3.
2020: How Design Can Transform A Post-Pandemic UAE – The National (UAE) – June 19.
2019: How Fashion Schools Are Tackling the Sustainability Puzzle – Business Of Fashion (UK) June 5.
2017: Sustainability And Fashion Education: The Next Generation – HuffPost (UK) September 28.
2017: We Need To Remember Our Connections To Ensure A Fashion Revolution – HuffPost (UK) April 27.
2013: Fashion Textiles Now – Janet Prescott (UK, Artis).
Social
Contact
noorinkhamisani@gmail.com