In August 2021, Audrey Millet will start investigating the workshop techniques of the clothing industries in Paris and Shanghai from 1860-2020.
The MISS project investigates how technological advancement and industrialization of the clothing industry has impacted working conditions, women’s employment and career prospects in the clothing workshops of Paris and Shanghai. Millet investigates how the implementation of an industrial model in the global clothing industry has led to a de-skilling of the workforce, focusing mainly on the female workforce. A main objective is to examine the role of technology in supplying the growing demands for low-price clothing and fast fashion.
By studying two main manufacturing centres, Paris from 1860-1900 and Shanghai from 1990-2020, the project re-evaluates the relationship between leaders, middlemen and female employees. In so doing, MISS highlights the gendering of technology in the global clothing industry and its consequences for female sweatshop workers and their working conditions.
Audrey Millet a MSCA postdoctoral fellow in history at the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (IAKH) at the University of Oslo, connected to the ERC project Creative IPR, led by professor Veronique Pouillard. She is a specialist in the ecosystem of fashion, her work focusing on the textile industry from 1600 to the present day through economic, social and technical history. She has recently published Fabriquer le désir. Une histoire de la mode de l’Antiquité à nos jours (Belin, 2020) and Le livre noir de la mode. Creation, production, manipulation (Les Pérégrines, 2021). Her current project is a comparison of sweatshops in Paris in the 19th century and in Shanghai around 2000. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No.101024003.
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Practical Information
This event is open for everyone to attend and will be held on zoom. Join us on Monday the 13th of September at 16:00 CET, by registering to the event on Zoom.
