Press Play is a project that aims to activate youths by investigating the making of different toolboxes that trigger critical thinking about fashion and the production of identities through clothing.

Workshops have been carried out in collaboration with the youth recreation centre Lava, at Kulturhuset, in Stockholm. The location has been chosen for its highly equipped facilities used by teenagers. The workshops, that took place over the course of four months with meetings several times a week, were composed of activities, presentations, and lectures with invited guests. A group of teenagers were invited to partake actively as agents in the chain of production and consumption of clothing, and were encouraged to reflect critically over the making of their own creations.

The aim of this project is to challenge the commercial market and the generic construction of identities by implementing self-directed modules as sites of production in collaboration with local organizations and teenagers.

The outcomes of the Press Play workshops resulted into the formation of two toolboxes Inside and Drop Shop. First, Inside examines how one’s identity or sense of belonging can be expressed by the creation of visual signs through clothing. The garment becomes thus a second skin for the one wearing it, materializing its inner belief to the outer world. Second, Drop Shop are images/messages designed by the participating teenagers that reflect their own personal concerns, printed or sewed on white T-shirts, the garment enters the public sphere and communicates a singular and empowering visual statement.

The toolboxes have subsequently been used in the context of Press Play Shop. Press Play Shop is a platform for trading clothes without any commercial exchange that, in collaboration with Lava, is now functioning autonomously.

The project was documented in video and DIY catalogue.