CULTURAL HERITAGE AND FASHION: INTEGRATING TRADITIONAL VALUES INTO MODERN FASHION DESIGN AT TAKORADI TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

Author: Dr (Mrs.) Faustina Emefa Agordah

ABSTRACT

Incorporating cultural history into current fashion design is critical for sustaining traditional values while encouraging innovation, especially at educational institutions like Takoradi Technical University (TTU). This research examines how TTU’s fashion design students blend Ghanaian cultural components into modern fashion, ensuring that traditional textiles, patterns, and motifs stay relevant in today’s globalised market. The study emphasises the significance of cultural sustainability, ethical issues, and the role of fashion education in bridging the gap between tradition and modernity. Despite Ghana’s rich legacy, issues such as reconciling tradition with modern aesthetics, the possibility of cultural appropriation, and restricted access to traditional materials remain. This study employs a qualitative research technique, with data collected from case studies, interviews with educators and students, and reviews of fashion show documents and fashion industry publications. The findings show that TTU incorporates cultural heritage into its curriculum through historical contextualisation, hands-on workshops, interdisciplinary learning, collaborative projects, and fashion shows. These techniques provide students with practical experience and help them grasp traditional design’s sociopolitical and economic relevance. However, commercialisation pressures, dwindling availability of indigenous materials, and the need for more established ethical criteria all present significant challenges. The study indicates that an education approach that strategically blends cultural history into modern fashion processes can help to create a more sustainable, inclusive, and ethical sector. Institutions like TTU help to establish a fashion sector that values and celebrates diversity by providing designers with the knowledge they need to innovate while maintaining their cultural identity.

Keywords: Cultural heritage, fashion education, traditional value, sustainable design, Ghanaian fashion.

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