Next month’s Shapeshifting conference is bringing together 60 of the world’s most prolific fashion and textile designers over three days in Auckland, with keynote speakers including performance artist Nick Cave, fashion theorist Dr Otto von Busch, and designers Gareth Pugh, Shingo Sato, Ying Gao and Elaine Ng Yan Ling.

?Workshops, presentations, performances, exhibitions and networking events will centre around the ever-changing nature of fashion, with speculations on how the future of fashion and textiles could be transformed internationally and in New Zealand. 

Nick Cave’s Sound Suit

The conference will run from April 14-16 and be held at the Viaduct Events Centre and other venues including AUT University and Auckland Art Gallery. 

Conference director and head of fashion and textiles at AUT Andreas Mikellis says the purpose of the conference is to establish New Zealand as one of the ‘global homes’ for experimental research.

“This conference is concerned with taking a visionary look into the future and is conceived as a mechanism to inspire. It’s a place where experimental ideas and extraordinary concepts can been aired and shared. It’s a conference that sits on the edge, geographically, creatively and philosophically.”