Creative Design: Professional

Passages of Refuge

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Abstract

The global refugee crisis has prompted significant interdisciplinary research on the psychological, cultural, and developmental needs of refugee populations; however, the field of apparel design has yet to fully explore how garments may function as trauma-responsive tools for resettled refugee children. Refugee and asylum-seeking children often navigate displacement with limited agency and high exposure to traumatic events, resulting in fragmented, intrusive memories and disruptions to cultural identity formation (Akthar & Lovell, 2018; Rousseau et al., 2003; Edwards, 2024). While expressive arts therapies have demonstrated efficacy in helping children externalize and reframe trauma through metaphor and multisensory engagement (Ugurlu et al., 2016), few design scholars have considered how clothing may serve a similar therapeutic role. This design addresses the critical gap between trauma-informed pedagogy and apparel design by creating a conceptual childrenswear garment that incorporates multisensory interaction, symbolic cultural references, and subtraction cutting to support memory processing and self-expression.

Keywords: resettled refugee children, wearable intervention, trauma-informed, subtraction cutting, wearble intervention

How to Cite:

Uriyo, A., (2025) “Passages of Refuge”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 82(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.21836