Don’t tell me fashion is frivolous | Frances Corner | TEDxWhitehall

What do you wear if you’re going to meet the Head of London College of Fashion? Professor Frances Corner discusses how we place so much time and energy into choosing what to wear, but often forget about the environmental or ethical costs of our clothes. She calls for us to take responsibility for cheap, disposable fashion and begin to use fashion as a force for good, highlighting examples such as a bra that can detect cancer, clothes that clean the surrounding air and 3D-printed fabrics. She makes an insightful call for us all to forget frivolity and start thinking more seriously about what it is we wear.
Professor Frances Corner OBE is Head of London College of Fashion and Pro Vice-Chancellor of University of the Arts London. She has over 20 years’ experience within the higher education sector at a national and international level.
Frances champions the use of fashion as an agent for innovation and change, particularly in the areas of sustainability, health and well-being.
Frances is Chair of the International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes, a Trustee of The Wallace Collection and Chair of Trustees of the House of Illustration. She was recently named in the Business of Fashion 500 – a professional index of key people shaping the global fashion industry.
In 2014 Frances published her first book, entitled ‘Why Fashion Matters’ (Thames and Hudson)
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This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at