The Groupement d’Intérêt Scientifique Apparences, Corps et Sociétés (GIS Acorso) (Scientific Interest Group on Appearances, Bodies and Societies) takes a scientific approach to the study of individual appearances: not just clothing, but also all the ways in which the face and body are dressed, posture, body shape and so on. It examines them by looking at contemporary and past practices, and by considering the Western world in all its social complexity, from Early-Modern Times to the present day. Acorso works from the perspective of the history of material culture, questioning objects on several levels: their materiality and their relationship to the body; their technical, economic and social history; and the museum policies that affect them (collection, presentation, etc.). Acorso is first and foremost a forum for scientific thinking. Its primary objective is to create a network of researchers, emphasising its interdisciplinary and international nature, linking university research centres and museums and uniting the different parts of Europe, from West to East.
Acorso was set up as a result of exchanges between researchers following a number of colloquia and/or exhibitions in the first decade of the twenty-first century, and the publication of landmark works in France and abroad in the field of Fashion Studies. On the initiative of a core group of French researchers from universities and museums — a core group that rapidly became international — major scientific projects were launched, such as the international conference Faire l’Histoire de la mode dans le monde occidental (Paris, 11–13 May 2015). The GIS was officially created in September 2015. It now brings together around thirty museum and university institutions around the world and is hosted by the University of Lille (France).
Since its creation, Acorso has grown and changed. It has set up a website (https://acorso.org) which is a tool for building research projects, a forum for exchanges between researchers and a place for information on scientific events organised in Europe, as well as its editorial activity. Since 2021, the GIS has also been working with ETVA, an association of independent researchers and member of Acorso, to run an annual online European dissertation seminar, enabling young researchers to discuss issues relating to sources, methods and the subjects of their research, in the presence of professors and museum curators from several European countries.
Membership of the GIS is open to institutions such as university research centres and museums. The annual membership fee is 250 euros. Contact: acorso.gis@gmail.com