Diasporas and fashion share intimate histories. This presentation examines the dynamics of self-representation that are central to where and how members of diasporas from the Mediterranean region situate themselves in multicultural Australia.
Through an exploration of attachments to and performances in folkloric dress (like Greek pompom shoes/tsarouch and Cypriot baggy cotton trousers/vraka), alongside the contribution of migrant tailoring traditions and the phenomenon of younger members of Mediterranean diasporas showing allegiances to specific brands in their street fashion (think Kappa and Adidas tracksuits), this presentation explores how changing attitudes to fashion reveal shifts in diasporic cultural codes.
By exploring a range of distinctive diasporic fashion aesthetics, Dr Andonis Piperoglou will argue that dress has functioned as a technology of diasporic selfhood while also facilitating distinctive Mediterranean-Australian style narratives.
By taking seriously the interrelated materialities and memories of dressing Mediterranean diasporas, this opens conversation about what a fashion-focused history of diasporic selves, social relations and sensibilities might look like.
BIO
Dr Andonis Piperoglou is the inaugural Hellenic Senior Lecturer of Global Diasporas at the University of Melbourne. Andonis is a specialist in migration and ethnic history and has published extensively on Greek migration to Australia. He works on historical connections between colonialism, racism, and migration, as well as human movements between the Mediterranean and the Pacific.
In the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, Andonis teaches subjects on migration, diaspora, multiculturalism, cosmopolitanism, and globalisation. Currently, Andonis is the Vice President of the International Australian Studies Association.
Event Details:
- When: Thursday 21 August 2025, 7pm
- Speaker: Dr Andonis Piperoglou
- Seminar: Dressing Mediterranean Diasporas: from pompom shoes to “fully sick” wog wear
- Where: The Greek Centre (Mezzanine, 168 Lonsdale St, Melbourne)
- Language: English
- Sponsors: Greek Australian Society (GAS), Ithacan Philanthropic Society
