Pedagogy and Professional Development

Rooted in our Truth: Fashion as Social Justice

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Abstract

Volunteering and service learning have been shown to enhance students' well-being, civic engagement, and personal development. However, students often struggle to connect service experiences to diciplinary learning. This qualtitative study examined a service-learning collboaration between undergradaute fashion design students and middle school students from marginalized urban communitites. Over four site visits in Spring 2025, 72 sophomore-level design students mentored 183 middle school students on an up-cycled garment project for a social justice fashion show. Follwoing IRB approval, 31 college students completed an open-ended survey reflecting on their mentoring experience. Using constant comparative analysis, four themes emerged: overcoming uncertainty and perfectionism, surprise at one's knowledge, reciprocal learning, and renewed joy in sewing and design. Despite intital apprehension, all respondents reported positive outcomes and willingness to participate again. Findings suggest that thoughtfully structured reflective growth, and support student well-being while promoting meaningful community engagement. 

Keywords: Volunteer, service-learning, design education, social justice

How to Cite:

McAndrews, L. E., Copeland, L., Lapolla, K., Xepoleas, L., Pettys-Baker, R. & Quevedo, V., (2025) “Rooted in our Truth: Fashion as Social Justice”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 82(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.21952