27th Annual Conference of International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes

FORMING FUTURES

Hosted by London College of Fashion, UAL in London, UK

24 – 28 March 2025

Theme

The theme of the 27^th IFFTI conference is Forming Futures.

Forming Futures is a call for educators, researchers and practitioners to share their ethical enquiries in design, technology, digital objects, communities, business systems and pedagogy.

As the eco-system of fashion continues to grow and flourish:

• Our communities are showing us how to unlearn fashion as we know it, and how to reassess our position and perspectives.
• Technology is driving democratic change to established fashion systems.
• Dominant fashion narratives are shifting, creating space for new, authentic stories that resonate with diverse and global audiences.
• Educational practices are creating change, inspiring an impactful future for the entire fashion industry.
• Advancements in digital fashion are challenging our ideas of reality, ethics and sustainability.

We invite submissions that present innovative research that demonstrate these new ways of thinking, seeing, working and practising that contribute to fashion’s forming futures.

Subthemes

Pedagogies

• What teaching methods are we implementing to inspire critical change within the fashion system?
• Teaching beyond the classroom: how does fashion affect pedagogy and vice versa?
• Inside out: enacting industry and cultural change from our workshops and studios.

Communities

• Unlearning fashion to re-assess, re-analyse and re-evaluate fashion perspectives.
• Learning with local communities and centring their voices to change fashion ideals.
• Telling authentic stories and evaluating how identities and communities are understood through fashion’s cultural narratives.

Technologies

• Creative technologies for change: sustainable technologies infrastructure and platforms that are shifting the fashion eco-system.
• How do we advocate ethical uses of machine learning for a sustainable future in fashion?
• The ethical balance between digital and physical objects in the fashion eco-system.

Ethics

• Balancing digital objects and physical artefact.
• Shifting dominant geographies and confronting fashion’s international inequalities.
• Fashion systems that prioritise planetary life and wellbeing for all.
• Ethical business practices at the interface of culture and sustainability.

Important to consider

What can our learners bring to these conversations?

How can both practice and/or theory successfully address these sub-themes?

Conference format

The conference will be held in-person in London, UK.

We welcome submissions in the following categories:

Multiple submissions are welcome:

1. Text-based full papers
2. Text-based developmental papers
3. Creative practice as image, film, artefact, or performance
4. Poster: to be presented digitally at the conference
5. Workshop: this year, we invite colleagues to propose workshops that will be incorporated into the conference program. They will involve participants working together on a subject or skill that is relevant to one of the conference themes. There should be at least two organisers to facilitate the workshop, and one of the organisers must be from an IFFTI institution.

Abstracts

Abstracts are required for all submissions and are to be submitted by 8 July 2024. To facilitate evaluation, authors are requested to indicate which subtheme(s) their abstract addresses and identify themselves as senior faculty, early career researcher or doctoral researcher. Please be aware that full papers will be due by 13 December 2024.

Abstract guidelines:

• Title
• Subtheme(s) and 5 keywords entered below the title
• Format (e.g. text-based paper, developmental paper, creative practice, poster or workshop)
• The Abstract should be 300 to 500 words in English not including subtheme(s) and keywords
• 12 pt. Type, Times New Roman
• 2.5cm / 1-inch margins all around
• Abstracts must be submitted in Microsoft Word
• A separate word file containing your 100-word bio per author, affiliation and head shot

In addition, for creative practice-based submissions (film, image, artefacts, performances) your abstract should include these details:

• For images/film, please indicate your presentation requirements (e.g. screen size, projection facilities etc.) and any systems or software requirements you will need
• For physical installations, please indicate your spatial/hanging/other requirements. Note that the exhibition areas will limit the amount of space available to you, so please take this into consideration with your proposal
• For performance, please indicate the space you require and any other provisions for the performance
• Submit one or more images that enable a review committee to fully understand your proposal. Images should be in an attachment up to 10MB. If the file is larger, please send a Microsoft OneDrive or YouTube link.

Review process

Abstracts and Papers for the IFFTI 2025 Conference will be selected through a double-blind peer review process. The IFFTI research committee and the conference organisers will appoint reviewers for the process.

Contributors will be invited to submit their final work after acceptance of their Abstract. Text-based full and developmental papers will go to a further review before acceptance.

General requirements following selection of the abstract

Full Papers

Full papers should comply with all the following requirements:

• Authors are required to submit full papers by 13 December 2024.
• Full papers should be submitted as a Microsoft Word file, 12 point, Times New Roman font, with page numbers at bottom of page, and 1-inch (2.5 cm) margins, A4 size.
• Papers should be 3,000-5,000 words in length in English. They should be written as continuous narrative in a chapter or article style - not as lists of points or a PowerPoint presentation
• Harvard referencing system referencing should be used. Please refer to the template provided.
• Please see paper template guide for text, style, structure of your text and use of images.
• Authors are responsible for the accuracy of citations, quotations, diagrams, tables and maps.
• Papers should be thoroughly checked and proof-read before submission.
• Authors will be notified about acceptance of papers by end of 25 October 2024. Any papers that are incorrectly formatted or missing information, may be rejected so please pay close attention to the submission requirements.
• Papers will be published in a fully refereed Conference Proceedings, provided the author (or one of the authors) attends the conference to present their work.

Developmental papers

The purpose of this category is to enable authors to discuss their work whilst it is in its developmental stage, so comments and feedback obtained at the event can be incorporated in the final stages of research and writing up.

Developmental papers should comply with the following requirements:

• Authors are required to submit developmental papers by 13 December 2024
• Developmental papers should be 1000-2000 words (excluding tables and references). They should be written as continuous narrative in a chapter or article style, not as lists of points or a PowerPoint presentation and should explain the work to date and proposed future development.
• Developmental papers will have 10 minutes allocated for presentation, followed by a 5 minute discussion period
• Papers should be submitted as a Microsoft Word file, 12 point, Times New Roman font, with page numbers at bottom of page, and 1-inch (2.5cm) margins, A4 size.
• Please do not make a submission of less than 1000 words as it will be automatically rejected; below this word count there is insufficient material on which to base a decision. A substantive amount of the paper or concept should therefore be in place.
• Developmental paper submissions will be included in the conference proceedings following further review and provided the author has been in attendance to present.

For practice-based submissions

• Work should be submitted with a brief textual description (maximum 200 words) as a Microsoft Word file.
• Visual submissions over 10MB should be submitted with a link (e.g.YouTube) due to limitations of uploading file size.
• The conference organisers will discuss your individual presentation requirements with you.
• Practice-based research acceptance criteria include installation requirements and feasibility review (installation space, technologies, equipment etc.).
• Images or videos of practice-based submissions, will be displayed on a show reel of work during the conference.

Other formats

Workshops

We invite colleagues to propose interactive workshops that align with one of the conference subthemes. 1 or 2 hour workshop sessions are available. There should be at least two facilitators for the workshop and one must be affiliated with an IFFTI institution.

Facilitators are required to submit the abstract by 8 July 2024 and if accepted, the full proposal by 13 December 2024.

Workshop proposals should be 1000-2000 words and include the facilitators names, the conference subtheme, the workshop topic, the objectives of the workshop. Please submit your proposal as a Microsoft Word file.

Specific Format Requirements: Facilitators will be allocated a session of 1 hour or 2 hour to hold their workshop. In addition to the topic of the workshop and a statement about why this is likely to be of interest, submissions should specify who will lead the session, the mechanisms by which this will happen, spatial / room set up and any other requirements.

Workshops that are accepted after reviewing process and run at the conference will be included in the conference proceedings, provided a reportable outcome is submitted using the template provided.

Interactive workshops could include a discussion, a hands-on practice-based exploration, a provocation etc.

Posters

We welcome poster presentations of work that relates to any of the sub-themes.

Researchers are required to submit the poster by 13 December 2024 in the following format:

• Poster layout must be landscape, A0 format ( 119cm height,  84cm width)
• Submit as a PDF file
• By definition, a poster is a single sheet/window/page
• The poster will be made available digitally so ensure that it is scalable and visible on various devices
• The conference organiser will print the poster, therefore the digital submissions must be available in an accessible format
• Include the title, author(s) names, institution on the poster
• Word count within the poster should be 300-500 words

Copyright

All papers presented at the Conference will be published. At the time of submission of full papers, authors are required to undertake a copyright agreement with IFFTI and the host institution. The text of this agreement will be available at the 2025 IFFTI Conference website.

Deadline for authors to register to attend

At least one author from each accepted submission must register to attend the IFFTI 2025 Conference by 28 February 2025. Accepted papers without at least one registered author will be withdrawn and will not be included in the conference proceedings. After this point withdrawn submissions will not be reinstated.

IFFTI Initiatives Awards

IFFTI will make awards of $US2000 for the best submissions in four categories, senior faculty, early career researcher and doctoral student. A review panel will assess a short list nominated by reviewers on the basis of the originality, significance and rigour of the research.

Doctoral research students' awards

• Research students registered on a doctoral programme (leading to a PhD or Professional Doctorate or equivalent) up to the point of notification of their achievement
• The author or at least one of the authors in a multi-authored submission must present their work at the conference
• The lead author must come from an IFFTI institution
• The lead author’s Institution has paid its fees to IFFTI (current and past years)
• The lead author has not received an award within the past two years
• Up to 2 awards may be made of US$2000 each and registration to the 2025 IFFTI conference paid by IFFTI

Early Career Researchers awards

• Academics who achieved a doctoral qualification or were contracted to a higher education institution in a teaching/research role, within the previous five years of the date of the initial call for conference submissions*
• The author or at least one of the authors in a multi-authored submission must present their work at the conference
• The lead author must come from an IFFTI institution
• The lead author’s Institution has paid its fees to IFFTI (current and past years)
• The lead author has not received an award within the past two years
• Up to 5 awards may be made of US$2000 each and registration to the 2025 IFFTI conference paid by IFFTI

Senior Faculty awards

• Academics at a higher education institution who have been contracted in a teaching/research role for more than five years or took their doctoral qualification for more than five years since the date of the initial call for conference submissions *
• Have an established research profile within a higher education institution
• The author or at least one of the authors in a multi-authored submission must present their work at the conference
• The lead author must come from an IFFTI institution
• The lead author’s Institution has paid its fees to IFFTI (current and past years)
• The lead author has not received an award within the past two years
• Up to 2 awards may be made of US$2000 each and registration to the 2025 IFFTI conference paid by IFFTI

IFFTI Chair Presentation awards

• IFFTI Chair Presentation award for an outstanding oral presentation, judged by peers at the conference
• Up to 2 awards may be made of US$1000 each and registration to the 2025 IFFTI conference paid by IFFTI
• The lead author must come from an IFFTI institution
• The lead author's Institution has paid its fees to IFFTI (current and past years)

Special instructions

At time of submission of the full paper, the author of the paper will confirm that the paper has not been presented or published elsewhere.

The researcher must supply evidence they meet the criteria for the award, for example a supporting statement from Head of Institution/ Department/ Other Appropriate Authority.

* The measurement of five years will commence from when an academic entered into a teaching/research role if they did not have a doctoral qualification or the date they achieved a doctoral qualification. If an academic joined an institution on a teaching/research contract and subsequently achieved a doctoral qualification, the five years would be measured from the date they started their teaching/research contract. The five years can be extended for time taken out for illness, maternity/paternity leave etc.

IMPORTANT

We only accept papers via our website: London College of Fashion IFFTI Conference.

We do not accept responsibility for any submissions by email.

Key dates