The socialisation of the child aims to imbue them with the principles that underpin our social identities and conventions (Quentel, 1997). At birth the child is wrapped in clothes and experiences their first sensory contact with the world and culture. Textiles are introduced into the child’s environment in multiple forms, as useful materials that are easy to access, manipulate and are polymorphous. Exploring the textures of textiles forms part of children’s sensory education, through touch, sounds and unexpected tastes, and the development of their fine motor skills. Playing with the forms of textiles encourages children to invent, create and innovate as part of their acculturation. 

Thus, textiles occupy a central place in the processes of socialising the child (Winnicott, 1971). Textiles made by adults, such as clothes and linen, toys and books are all objects that share a socializing function, be it educational or playful. As the child makes sense of the world, invoking their capacities to act and interact (Qvortrup, 2005), they use these materials to transform their environment in often spontaneous and novel ways: sheets are used for dress-up, for den-making, they can become toys, inspire stories or be used in pretend games. Understanding these interactions gives us direct access to the mechanisms of acculturation, and offers a perspective on children’s interpretation of the society In history, as well as today around the globe, sparse but significant occurrences demonstrate how adults can be inspired by this child-led approach to the world to create a nurturing, as well as educational environment for the child (Le Guennec, 2020). 

This special issue seeks to explore the diversity of uses and the rich socialising as well as creative potential of textiles in childhood, and to draw connections between the different components of the material culture of childhood in which textiles are omnipresent (Arleo & Delelande, 2004). We are looking for articles that use inter- and trans-disciplinary research methods, and practice-led research based on direct engagement with children, in order to shed new light on children’s interactions with the material culture created for them by adults, such as clothes, household linen, toys and books. Analysing the ways children appropriate and reinvent these objects will reveal the benefits that using textiles can bring to a material environment, guided by specific educational and sociological principals. Finally, building on the reflections begun in issue number 4 of Strenae, this special issue will consider different periods in history and contribute to the writing of a history of children's material culture which, since the mid-18th century, has intersected with that of the textile industry. It will take into account and enrich the pre-existing scholarly methods for analysing and reading cultural artefacts (Roche, 1989 and 1997).

This call is open to all specialists in the field of the material culture of childhood (scholars of childhood studies, children’s literature and media, designers, artists, early childhood specialists, educators), museum and cultural heritage professionals, and scholars from any discipline or research area, where their research or practice looks at textiles and takes into consideration the child’s point of view - their desires and their questions. We are particularly interested in research which analyses children’s direct interactions with their material culture, whether clothing or objects made out of textiles. 

Articles may focus on current practices and objects, as well as their history, and cover (without being limited to) the following themes:

• Textiles and clothes in childhood and children’s material culture
• Children’s spontaneous interactions with their clothes, at school or in the home (eg. experimenting with ways of wearing clothes, or with dressing up)
• Creative and educational practices at school and in the home using textiles and garments
• Making clothes: crafts and DIY in childhood
• Children, their clothes and their imaginary
• Textiles in children’s books
• The creative practices of textile designers working with children
• The place and role of children in collecting and interpreting textile and clothing heritage collections. 

Proposals (up to 500 words) in French or English should be submitted by 15 April 2025, to the Strenæ journal at strenae@afreloce.fr, accompanied by a brief biography and bibliography.

The editorial board of the journal will review these proposals. Authors will be promptly notified of the acceptance or rejection of their submissions. Complete articles (up to 30,000 characters, including spaces) must be submitted by 15 October 2025, and can be written in English or French. Publication is scheduled for the first half of 2026.

Bibliografie

• Arléo, Andy, et Delalande, Julie, Culture enfantine, Rennes, P.U.R., 2004.
• Join-Diéterle, Catherine, Tétart-Vittu, Françoise, La mode et l’enfant, 1780-2000, Paris, éditions Paris-musées, 2001.
• Lange, Alexandra, The design of Childhood, New-York, Bloomsbury, 2018.
• Le Guennec, Aude, Rose, Clare, « Children’s clothing collections, problems and perspectives », in Le vêtement et la mode : un patrimoine incarné, In Situ, 52, 2024, https://doi.org/10.4000/insitu.40164
• Le Guennec, Aude, and Coutant, Nicolas, Dressed for School / S’habiller pour l’école, Rouen, Canopé, 2023.
• Le Guennec, Aude, Rose, Clare, Barbu, Laetitia, Hartmann-Bragard, Anne-Charlotte, Nygren, Maija and Sekhon Dhilon, Yasmin, « Towards an Informed, Participative and Sustainable Approach of Children's Fashion and Clothing: IN2FROCC in Action », in Frankel, S. (ed.), Establishing Child Centred Practice in a Changing World, Emerald, 2022.
• Le Guennec, Aude, “Children Fashion - socialisation and education through clothing”, in Manlow, V. et al. (ed.), The Companion to Fashion Studies, Routledge, 2021.
• Le Guennec, Aude, “Guise et déguisement. L’enfant acteur vestimentaire dans la France moderne et contemporaine”, in Vinel, Virginie et Zaltron, Francesca (dir.). Modèles d’enfance joués et déjoués, Revue des Sciences Sociales, 64, 2020. 
• Le Guennec, Aude, « Du musée à la thèse : vers un modèle d’étude du vêtement de l’enfant », in Tétralogiques, n°23, 2018, Le modèle médiationniste de la technique, URL : https://www.tetralogiques.fr/spip.php?article90
• Quentel, Jean-Claude, L’enfant : Problèmes de genèse et d’histoire, Paris-Bruxelles, De Boek Université, 1997.
• Qvortrup, Jens (ed.), Studies in modern childhood: society, agency, culture, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
• Renonciat, Annie et Manson, Michel, dossier « La Culture matérielle de l’enfance, un nouvel horizon de recherche », Strenae, n°4, 2012, https://journals.openedition.org/strenae/600
• Roche, Daniel, La culture des apparences. Une histoire du vêtement XVII^e-XVIII^e siècle, Paris, Fayard, 1989.
• Roche, Daniel, Histoire des choses banales. Naissance de la consommation XVII^e-XIX^e siècle, Paris, Fayard, 1997.
• Rubessi, Chiara, « Bruno Munari, la polysensorialité des livres pour la jeunesse », Appareil [Online], n°28, 2024, Online since 05 December 2024, connection on 10 February 2025. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/appareil/8011; DOI:https://doi.org/10.4000/130v6https://doi.org/10.4000/130v6
• Vaclavik, Kiera and FIELD, Hannah (ed.), “Childhood and clothing”, Jeunesse,Toronto University Press, vol.15, issue 2., December 2023.
• Winnicot, Donald, Playing and Reality, London, Tavistock, 1971.

(Quelle: Aussendung)