Caryn Franklin
From i-D magazine to professor of diverse selfhood
Caryn Franklin M.B.E. MSc (Psych) MBPsS is a fashion icon who guides the British fashion industry in remarkable ways. A Fashion and Identity Commentator, Agent of Change and Professor of Diverse Selfhood at Kingston School of Art, we feel honoured to talk to Caryn for this special podcast episode.
At i-D magazine as Fashion Editor and Co-Editor, Caryn made fashion exciting, real, honest and accessible. During the Clothes Show she opened up fashion to all, reaching TV audiences of 13million in the UK and 157million worldwide (via BBC world service) at a time before social media. A prolific campaigner using fashion as a platform to raise awareness of issues such as AIDS, Breast Cancer and Mental Health, Caryn encourages us to step beyond our own world.
Inviting us to celebrate our uniqueness, embrace the female journey and excited about the current conversations around gender non-conformity, Caryn encourages us to look further, think more deeply and find joy in our conversations.
This podcast is extremely special because we talk to Caryn Franklin (yes she’s amazing)…and it’s the first time we have opened up the conversation and invited listeners to send us their questions ahead of recording the interview. We want to understand what is important to you and also learn from you. So thank you to our first ever listener question from Michelle Biloux who is a portrait photographer and creative director based in New York.
We hope you enjoy hearing the answer to Michelle’s question and listening to a taste of Caryn’s amazing life in fashion so far.
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“In order to shift the mindset of the people who ‘do power’…we have to incentivise them with the benefits of a more diverse offer...Studies report that when we engage with an image or portrayal we make a bond through shared characteristics, so we need to see ourselves reflected - all ages, sizes, skin tones, and gender identities - and when we do that we show an increased intention to purchase by 300%. ”
In the podcast the below people and organisations are referenced, we invite you to take a further look at their work.
Professor Richard Crisp PhD FBPsS, author, blogger, scientist and Professor of Psychology at Durham University. He is co-originator of the imagined contact hypothesis and a major contributor to the field of social psychology.
Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D. is internationally recognised for her groundbreaking work on the image of women in advertising and for her critical studies of alcohol and tobacco advertising.
The All Party Parliamentary Group for Textiles and Fashion, in reference to Fashion Roundtable’s forthcoming Representation and Inclusion Paper.
Black Neon Digital’s podcast with Catherine Teatum, Creative Director at Teatum Jones, whom Caryn worked with on Teatum Jones’ Global Womanhood series.
Extinction Rebellion, who are a socio-political movement which uses nonviolent resistance to protest against climate breakdown, biodiversity loss, and the risk of human extinction and ecological collapse.
“When we know that the brain is naturally inclined to bias and comfort recruits, and we seem to gather in groups where we all are like-minded and we understand that simply doesn’t inform creativity or prosocial progress, we have immediately got the motivation to step outside of our comfort zones. And seek a broader knowledge, and that’s a life quest. ”
Caryn Franklin backstage at Teatum Jones AW18. Photo by Iso Attrill for RedMilk
portrait photos taken by bec o'conner for black neon digital
podcast recorded at caryn franklin’s home, north west london
29.05.2019
