Portrait Youth Exhibition

Manchester Metropolitan University’s Manchester Fashion Institute is involved in an exciting new project that explores the individual and civic identities of Greater Manchester’s young people through style, fashion and dress.

Academics Jo Jenkinson, John Earnshaw and Zoë Hitchen have been working with young people to establish how clothing can be used as a catalyst for self-awareness and personal expression, capturing portraits of each participants’ identity.

Photographs from the Portrait Youth project will on display at an exhibition at Manchester Central Library, opening on Monday 9th October, as part of the Design Manchester DM17 festival.

The exhibition features portraits of 14 members of the Manchester Youth Council (MYC) who attended interactive workshops hosted by the University in February. MYC were the first group to be photographed for the project. Participants were asked to style themselves using their own clothing or artefacts in a way that represented their identities and to reflect upon, and articulate, their current, past and future selves.

Supported by Greater Manchester Combined Authority.