Ricarda Bigolin

Associate Professor Ricarda Bigolin is a practice-based researcher, educator and designer. Ricarda’s research, teaching and design practice is recognised internationally with ongoing collorations in research and education with some of the best Fashion, Design and Art Universities in the world. She is regarded as one of the establishing practitioners in the niche fields of critical and expanded fashion practice after completing a practice-based PhD on this area in 2013.

For over nine years they have been active in Fashion Design Discipline and Program leadership as the Associate Dean of Fashion and Textiles Design (2019 - 2024) and Program Manager for Masters and Honours degrees (2016 - 2018). They are a recognised leader of advancing design practice and advocating ways to break systemic injustices, supporting the inclusion of all diverse and marginal groups and the relationship between design, diversity and sustainability. Their practice research explores critical tactics and interventions to challenge how fashion is produced and consumed using arts-based and material methods, wearing and performing to reveal relationships between fashion, value and use. They have been an associated partner on European research grants, research networks and have been PI on innovative contract research grants and collaborations with industry partner Nike. Since completing their practice based PhD in 2012 in expanded and critical fashion, their practice work as ‘D&K’, has won international awards and acquisitive prizes producing garments, performances, exhibitions, texts and films in leading art and design museums, galleries, publications and universities globally. 

Ricarda has ongoing collaboration on teaching and research projects with the Swedish School of Textiles, the University of Borås since 2013, where Ricarda is a visiting Professor participating in research projects as part of the Body and Space research program as well as co-convening conferences, examining Masters and PhDs, giving seminars, workshops and teaching. Ricarda also has since 2015 given lectures, studio visits, program accreditation and examinations and is part of the learning community of the MA Critical Fashion Practices, ArtEZ, University of the Arts, Arnhem, the Netherlands. Ricarda also from 2022 - 2024 was a member of the AHRC funded International Upcycling Network with De Montfort University

Ricarda is  founding member of the ‘Performing Dress Lab: Materiality, Technology & the Scenographic Body' research in fashion, dress and performance with Aalto University, UAL and RMIT that focuses on research training for PhD students, networking and mentoring for supervisors. Ricarda supervises Masters and PhD students specialising in practice and project-based research, supporting them to develop highly original practice research, hybrid methodologies and international appeal. Part of this includes establishing the first international offshore cohort of RMIT Fashion and Textiles PhD students where Ricarda currently is Senior Supervisor on PhDs for two faculty at ArtEZ and one at Parsons, The New School.

Key to Ricarda’s design practice is D&K, a collaborative critical fashion practice producing garments, images, performances, exhibitions, ficto-criticim texts, poems, scripts and films in leading art and design museums, galleries, publications and universities globally. D&K won the prestigious international Han Nefkens Fashion on The Edge Award, in 2014 alongside Iris van Herpen (NL), Craig Green (GB), Digest Design (CN) and Lucia Cuba (PE), a commission and acquisitive prize in partnership with the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, the Netherlands. The practice has been shortlisted for Australian prizes and curated, acquired or commissioned by festivals, museums and libraries worldwide including NGV Triennial, A Shaded View of Fashion Film: ASVOFF 13 & 14 Film Festival, UTS Art Gallery, Amsterdam Warehouse, London College of Fashion, Central Saint Martin’s Special Collections Library, NSW Library, Melbourne Design Week, Melbourne Fashion Festival, Spring 1883, MCA Sydney, OCAT Shanghai, OCAT Shenzhen OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, RMIT Design Hub, RMIT Gallery and various commercial and artist-run initiatives worldwide. he monograph on D&K - D&K LOOK BOOK 2019 published by critical design and art publisher Surpllus in 2019 which was supported with worldwide launches. Ricarda is regularly invited to present her practice and research in publications, public lectures, chair panels, symposiums, and masterclasses to audiences across fashion, art, design, architecture disciplines worldwide. Key to this is engaging with the wider languages and the everyday value, significance and performance of fashion across art and design disciplines.