Tales of a T-shirt: Questioning the global garment chain from a co-creative student perspective

Dr. Erik de Maaker (PhD Leiden University, 2006) is Associate Professor at the Institute of Cultural  Anthropology and Development Sociology of Leiden University. His thematic focus is on the social  constitution of values, objects and places, and their relevance in terms of ethnicity, indigeneity,  heritage, environment and religion, mainly in South and Southeast Asia. Current research focuses on  how appreciations of heritage can inform notions of sustainability, in both local and globalized  contexts.

B. Ramila is an Assistant Professor, Department of Costume Design and Fashion, Erode Arts and Science College (EASC). She was trained as a specialist in textile processing and finishing at EASC, Erode. Her technical expertise in garment production has so far resulted in two books. She is the lead editor of Embroidery Design: Hand, Machine and Digital Embroidery (Coimbatore Institute of Information
Technology, 2023), and a co-author, together with M. Karthika of Advanced Apparel Design and Construction (Lambert, 2023).

Maaike Feitsma (PhD Radboud University, 2014) is a researcher at the Fashion Research & Technology group of Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS) and a lecturer in fashion history and fashion theory at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute (Amfi). Her expertise and research interests include Dutch fashion, the relationship between fashion and national identity, fashion and cultural heritage, fashion curation and more broadly how studying fashion history can help us solve contemporary fashion issues such as sustainability and gender.

Dr. Mayke Groffen (PhD Erasmus University, 2021) works as a curator at the city museum of Rotterdam. Her focus is on contemporary urban life. Museum Rotterdam’s fashion collection reflects the life, work, mentality, taste and origins of Rotterdammers from the 18th-century merchant city to  today’s super-diverse metropolis. A large part of the museum collection can be explored online, appropriated and used by a diverse audience. This inclusive approach, in which various participants add new meanings to the existing collection, is of great importance to Mayke.

Ellen Haeser is a lecturer at Zadkine College in Rotterdam, with a long track record in the fashion industry. She has broad and in-depth experience in the full chain of fashion, as an entrepreneur and leader, professional speaker, teacher, designer, developer and project leader, consultant, inspirational coach and lifetime student. At a very young age, she began developing her talent for blending skills, ideas, solutions and vision with enthusiasm, energy, passion and zest for life. Her aim is to contribute to the transition of the fashion business for future professionals.

Dr. Rachel Lee (PhD TU Berlin, 2017) is Assistant Professor at TU Delft where she teaches and  researches architecture and the built environment. Her work has often focused on architectures and  cities in India from a historical perspective. In this project, she has worked on the spatial imprints of  the international garment industry and their histories. Links: Feminist Architectural Histories of  Migration: On Margins (ABE), On Diffractions (CCA), On Collaborations (Aggregate).

Dr. M. Karthika is a Professor in the Department of Costume, Design and Fashion at the Erode Arts and Science College. 

Leonie Sterenborg is a project coordinator for the LGGB project at Leiden University. The love for telling the stories on fashion, costumes and identity has been there for as long as she can remember. After studying Art History and Cultural Studies at the University of Amsterdam, she worked for  various museums as a curator, currently as a costume curator for the Allard Pierson.

Sanne van den Dungen studied Organic Agriculture at Wageningen University and has a background in circular economy in different sectors with a focus on textiles gained at the Cradle to Cradle® specialized consultancy EPEA Netherlands. In that capacity, she visited India and started focusing on the full cotton supply chain from seed to shelf, directly involved with all the different steps and connecting with the multitude of supply chain partners. Sanne is the co-founder of Raddis®System and plays an important role in bridging the collaboration of tribal (women) farmers in India with dedicated production and trading partners to create a joint positive impact.