And they also teach… Lucía Cuba, designer, social psychologist, and educator

A reference in Latin American fashion within the international academic field, Peruvian designer Lucía Cuba develops a practice that connects design, activism, and social justice, questioning the traditional models of fashion education. Her work has been presented in museums and academic spaces in different countries. This article is part of the series on fashion professionals who are also dedicated to education, “And they also teach…”, which we are publishing in FashionUnited.

What is the most challenging aspect of teaching while being an active professional?

Perhaps one of the greatest challenges is sustaining a critical practice while facilitating learning processes that also seek to transform the educational system from within. Teaching fashion at the intersection of social justice requires rethinking the curriculum, infrastructure, the bodies we represent, our power and privileges, and the teaching methods that still respond to industrial and exclusionary models. A significant difficulty remains in maintaining coherence between what is taught, what is done, and how the practice is lived and experienced in a situated and committed way.

In your opinion, is fashion education preparing students to succeed or to survive?

Traditionally, it has prepared students to respond to market standards. However, fashion education committed to social justice can prepare students to transform existing systems. That is, to develop meaningful, ethical, and critical practices, with the ability to redefine what “success” means in a field that deeply affects people, bodies, territories, and the environment.

What do you think fashion education should unlearn?

It should unlearn the idea that there is only one valid model of fashion practice. It must question ideals of beauty, production standards, technical hierarchies, and Western frameworks that continue to dominate education. It should also unlearn the fragmentation between technique and critical thinking. Teaching fashion design is also teaching politics, representation, agency, and systems.

How do you help students find their own voice in a saturated market?

By encouraging them to recognize their agency from the very beginning, through acknowledging their own experiences, bodies, knowledges, and desires as legitimate sources of understanding. Designing from and for oneself is also political. By identifying what moves them, students can develop a situated, genuine, and transformative practice that does not seek to adapt to the system but rather to create other possibilities.

Do you believe artificial intelligence could completely replace “human participation” in fashion education?

No. The practice of design—particularly from a critical perspective—involves deeply human, emotional, and social processes. While AI can be a helpful tool, it cannot replace the ethical, pedagogical, and situated components required for an education committed to social transformation. Human participation is necessary to imagine and build other possible futures through fashion, including reimagining and decolonizing AI.

Is there any myth about the fashion world that you try to dismantle in your classes?

Yes. One of the most persistent myths is that fashion is a superficial field or exclusively linked to aesthetics. In reality, dressing is a political act. Another myth is that the “ideal” body is thin, young, abled, and white; in class, we work actively to dismantle these standards and propose, for example, more inclusive infrastructures (such as diverse mannequins, alternative sizing systems, or projects based on the experiences of real bodies). Another myth we aim to dismantle is the idea that patternmaking or garment construction are minor activities—they are, in fact, concrete political forms.

If your students could only remember one phrase or one moment from your course ten years from now, what would you like it to be?

I would like them to remember that designing is not only about making clothes, but about asking what kind of world we want to inhabit, and how our everyday decisions will affect that world. That dressing, making, thinking, teaching, and learning are deeply interconnected acts. And that fashion, at its best, can be a practice of care, transformation, and justice.

Also read the previous episodes of this series: with Juanita Crary, stylist and educator and Federico Antelo Granero, Visual Artist, Textile Designer and Educator