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# Project Description See it. Say it. Sorted. Svitla Volka Summary Final work Svitla Volka is a Ukrainian designer and researcher working at the intersection of fashion, technology, and political critique. Her practice positions fashion as a forensic and speculative tool to interrogate imperial aesthetics, soft-power infrastructures, and the politics of sustainability, while developing adaptive design systems that expand agency and inclusion. She is the founder of SVD Denim, an adaptive design initiative operating between material production and digital wearables, developing inclusive systems for prosthetic and war-affected bodies. Svitla Volka is a Ukrainian designer and researcher working at the intersection of fashion, techn... College London College of Fashion Course MA Fashion Futures Graduation year 2027 See it. Say it. Sorted. is a forensic research-based project examining how sustainability narratives in the global fashion industry can function as instruments of reputational and political laundering. The work investigates sustainability washing as a form of soft power, in which ethical and ecological language may obscure the origins of capital, structural complicity in violence, and the erasure of responsibility during wartime. Positioned between artistic practice and critical research, the project proposes expanding sustainability assessment frameworks to include political accountability as a necessary criterion. It asks how cultural institutions, certification systems, and audiences participate in producing legitimacy through selective visibility. Final work Evidence map The evidence map visualises the project's investigative framework, tracing networks of capital, influence, and reputational laundering within the global fashion sustainability discourse. At its centre lies a visceral manifestation of embodied knowledge: a reconstructed fragment of my grandfather’s destroyed vyshyvanka (traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt). This central element anchors the investigative process, bridging the gap between cold forensic data (corporate filings, sanctions lists, and media mapping) and the lived reality of imperial violence. The map illustrates how personal loss serves as a methodological catalyst for uncovering "reputational laundering" and imperial entanglement. By weaving together archival evidence and material memory, the work rejects detached academic observation, instead positioning the researcher’s own trauma and heritage as a legitimate and urgent site of knowledge production. Demanding Justice. This project interrogates the ethics of sustainability narratives in fashion through the figure of Themis, depicted with uncovered eyes. Restoring her sight becomes a symbolic act of returning justice to its original meaning, the obligation to see clearly before judgment. Historically, the later addition of the blindfold transformed justice into a metaphor for neutrality and detachment. Here, the removal of the blindfold challenges this inherited fiction, suggesting that enforced blindness can normalise violence, ecological harm, and political irresponsibility. The image reframes accountability as an active, informed, and situated act rather than a neutral position. Zine. 'See it. Say it. Sorted.' This investigative zine functions as a metaphorical case file within the broader project See it. Say it. Sorted. Research and process Investigation logic An infographic titled "Investigation Logic" mapping the flow of "Imperial Power." It traces oligarchic capital through cultural investments and PR firms to "Narrative laundering success," utilising OSINT collection and evidence graphing. The Impossible Wash A process collage documenting the construction of a macramé garment on a mannequin." The textile is integrated with medical tourniquets, which act as structural and symbolic anchors. Each tourniquet is marked with handwritten timestamps: 20.02.2014 (marking the beginning of the Russian invasion of Crimea) and 24.02.2022, 05:00 (the start of the full-scale invasion). The dress symbolises an object that cannot be laundered, regardless of how much empires engage in sustainability washing or reputational cleansing. Future performance of repeatedly washing the dress highlights the futility of attempting to neutralise histories of systemic aggression through global industry certifications. Share this project See it. Say it. Sorted. is a forensic research-based project examining how sustainability narratives in the global fashion industry can function as instruments of reputational and political laundering. The work investigates sustainability washing as a form of soft power, in wh... A link to this page has been added to your clipboard Browse related work Conflict & Its Effects Craft & Process Futures Realities Social Justice Ethics Fashion MixedMedia Narrative Research Sustainability Violence
# Links ## Official page - https://ualshowcase.arts.ac.uk/project/695067/cover ## External - https://www.linkedin.com/in/svitlavolka/ - https://www.instagram.com/svitlavolka - https://www.svddenim.com/ - tel:+380508785807 - mailto:svitlavolka@gmail.com - https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F695067%2Fcover&text=See+it.+Say+it.+Sorted. - https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F695067%2Fcover&media=https%3A%2F%2Fportfolio-tools.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F02%2F04112441%2FIMG_859611_Svitlana-Volkova.png&description=See+it.+Say+it.+Sorted.