modus
a mode of procedure
a way of doing something

Contemporary fashion culture is seeing creative practitioners actively seeking to challenge traditional practices and question the very definition of their discipline. While the mainstream fashion industry continues to uphold commercial boundaries, there are emergent practices that propose alternate value systems and thus different ways of thinking, doing and being fashion. These are expanded fashion practices: experimental methods, curiosity and criticality that have the ability to interrogate the social, cultural, political and environmental impacts and potentials of fashion and point to a future that transcends the current capitalist paradigm.

MODUS provides a platform to connect and celebrate these diverse and radical ways of 'doing' fashion. The central thread is a glossary of verbs - a growing lexicon of habits, methods, techniques, repetitions and actions - that together, begin to sketch out a shared language for expanded fashion practice. The project takes various forms from publications to events, exhibitions and workshops – all with the aim of building an international network that represents and supports this community of expanded fashion practitioners. MODUS facilitates conversations between the practitioners working in the expanded field and writers/theorists from a range of disciplines including sociology, cultural and critical theory, politics and economics to encourage overlaps between theory and practice in fashion and formulate new perspectives on and experiments in fashion.

MODUS is led by Ruby Hoette and Caroline Stevenson in collaboration with Roland Brauchli and Floriane Misslin (research assistant)

MODUS is kindly supported by: