On March 28, 2022, Canadian artist Gordon Shadrach gave a talk to students from the Fashion Studies (FST) Fashion Arts (FAA), Fashion Business (FAB), and Fashion Business Management (FBM) programs of the Seneca School of Fashion.
In his inspiring and provocative talk, Shadrach covered topics such as the cultural meanings of specific garments like the hoodie and uniforms, as well as the semiotics of dress as they relate to the representation and perceptions of Black men. He also talked about his recent series of paintings that explore the history of Black loyalists in Canada.
Anthony Gordon Shadrach is a Canadian artist and educator based in Toronto. Shadrach is known for exploring the semiotics of dress and its impact on culture, in particular the intersection and codification of race and fashion through his painting and textile based work. Website: https://www.gordonshadrach.com/ Gordon has fashion in his DNA as he was a designer at M.A.C Cosmetics in the 90’s, and he has since turned to art explorations for his creative work.
You can hear Shadrach’s visionary talk here:
Seneca Canadian Fashion Diversity Project student researcher Olivia Belande wrote of Shadrach’s work here:
https://fashionresourcecentre.com/?p=2755
His March 28th talk is a part of the work the Seneca Canadian Fashion Diversity Project is doing: https://fashionresourcecentre.com/
The Seneca Canadian Fashion Diversity Project (SCFDP) is a multimedia resource for education about (as well as celebration of) fashion diversity. Hosted on a website supported by the Seneca Library, the SCFDP focuses on fashion diversity research, garnered through object-based methodologies centred on garments from the Seneca Fashion Resource Centre collection (SFRC). The Seneca Canadian Fashion Diversity Project is made possible by a grant to fund the student researchers, as well as institutional support for Dr. Mark Joseph O’Connell.
