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Francesca Granata
Central Saint Martins
- Role: Research Student
- Email: francesca@fashionprojects.org
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Statement:
The Bakhtinian Grotesque in Late Twentieth Century Fashion
My thesis constitutes a study of the grotesque in fashion design at the end of the past century. Drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin’s theories and the way they have been articulated across the fields of art history and critical theory, it investigates the reasons behind the proliferation of grotesque imagery within twentieth century fashion. A constant transgression, merging and exceeding of borders constitutes one of the central attributes of the Bakhtinian grotesque. In its insistence on the body’s lack of boundaries, the grotesque suggests an engagement with the maternal: a subject, which by containing another within questions the possibility of a unified and stable subject position. Thus, my thesis explores the seemingly pregnant silhouette created within fashion of this period by Rei Kawakubo, Georgina Godley and Leigh Bowery. Additionally, the grotesque, being central to the carnival spirit, is characterized by an element of play, humour and parody—an aspect of the grotesque which allows for a recuperation of the humour and carnivalesque in fashion of this period. Thus, my thesis offers a rereading of “deconstruction” fashion, which has often been read in modernist terms of truth to materials and structural clarity when, in its constant challenges to proportions and symmetry, it appears more closely aligned with a grotesque aesthetic.
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Rachel Lifter
London College of Fashion
- Role: Research Student
- Email: r.lifter1@fashion.arts.ac.uk
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Statement:
'The Indie Project: style and youth culture in London'
My doctoral research investigates the relationship between youth and the practices of dress. On the one hand, my research examines the ways in which youth – a socially constructed category of classification – informs dress practices; and on the other hand, it examines how the performance of various dress practices – shopping, dressing the body and wearing clothes – supports the development of particular youthful identities. Specifically, my research focuses on ‘indie’ dress practices: how the youth cultural category of ‘indie’ informs the ways in which people dress and, correspondingly, how these ‘indie’ dress practices inform our understanding of ‘indie’ as a type of youthful identity.
My empirical research centres around London’s ‘indie’ scene. I am undertaking participant observation in various spaces of this scene, including stores, nightclubs and music venues; and I am undertaking semi-structured interviews with individuals and groups of people who participate in this scene. On the one hand, my hope is to develop an understanding of ‘indie’ culture and what it means to participate in it via practices of dress. On the other hand, I hope to develop an understanding of the role these practices of dress play in the creation of this culture and the development/maintenance of ‘indie’ identities.
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Ane Lynge-Jorlén
London College of Fashion
- Role: Research Student
- Email: anelyngejorlen@gmail.com
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Statement:
Mediating Niche Fashion - Magazines, Readers and Producers
I am exploring niche fashion magazines, their producers and readers. By examining how values, meanings and practices of fashion are maintained and mediated across magazine producers and readers, I aim to find out what value of fashion drives this specific niche fashion culture. With a starting point in British style magazines of the 1980s, I map the field of contemporary, independent and exclusive fashion magazines, focusing on one particular case study. The project draws on media and communication studies, fashion sociology and involves ethnography and participant observation at a niche fashion magazine, reader interviews and qualitative textual analysis.
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Maria José Sacchetti
London College of Fashion
- Role: Research Student
- Email: m.sacchetti@clara.co.uk
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Statement:
"Minimal aesthetic: The relationships between fashion and architecture in New York and Paris, from 1964 to the present day."
This thesis identifies and characterizes a minimal aesthetic in a strand of fashion design, emergent from New York and Paris, from 1964 onward.
It re-evaluates Minimalism’s significance within fashion history and positions the roots of its principles in a preceding form of post-war modern architecture. This examination has developed from object-based analyses of dress and the retail architecture of flagship stores.
The study establishes that the earliest materialization of a minimal aesthetic in the realm of fashion was in 1964 and challenges accepted views of Minimalism in fashion as a trend of the mid-1990s or as a local phenomenon. It ascertains where the principles of a minimal aesthetic originated and examines them through two case studies of distinct origins: Helmut Lang and Donna Karan.
The thesis maintains that these principles find expression in the designers’ dress, in the architecture of the flagship stores and in the inter-relationship between the two. Lastly, it determines how these principles relate to similar examples found within post-war architecture.
The study tackles the penetrating critiques of the European architects Adolf Loos (1908) and Le Corbusier (1924) that shaped the modernist movement and later elements of post Second World War architecture. The study of the dynamic inter-relationship between elements of fashion design and those of architecture focuses on the definition of Minimalism. Furthermore, the claims are contextualized within other areas of study such as material culture, cultural and historical studies and sociology.
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takis (Panagiotis Chatoupis)
London College of Fashion
- Role: Research Student
- Email: email@takis.info
- Website: http://www.forgottenpeacock.com
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Statement:
The Apotheosis of Man, the Forgotten Peacock"
The aim of this practice-based research project is to examine the contemporary male suit, its historical origins, its loss and lack of extravagant decoration and, by experimenting with materials, to show how the ‘suit’ might be reclaimed through an interactive installation.
The project aims to explore new ways of viewing the contemporary male suit by means of experimenting with form, colour and diverse materials, introducing extravagant and decorative details and garments, to provoke and inspire ordinary men. By exploring the taboos and insecurities that still exist today concerning male decoration and fears about effeminacy, the project it will challenge men to think differently about how they can look. The installation will engage male visitors and encourage them to take part in the experimental installation, becoming the new ‘peacocks' themselves. By rediscovering their hidden ‘peacock’, visitors will not only observe the garments as in a regular fashion show or exhibition but will be able to try on the extravagant male suits and experiment with their image.
First presentation of the installation: Monday 22st September 2008 – London Design Museum. The Brunswick
16 October - 29 November 2008 at 7pm and 9pm.
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