Deconstructivism (fashion)

In fashion, the term "deconstructivism" was formed in the second half of the 1980s - in the early 1990s . The principles of this trend were outlined in 1985 in an article by Harold Coda “Ray Kawakubo and the aesthetics of poverty” ^[9] . In the early 1990s, Harold Koda and Richard Martin introduced the concept of fashionable deconstruction in the Infra-Apparel catalog ^[10] , where “deconstructivism” was described as a single trend in the 1990s. It is believed that the term “deconstructivism” as applied to fashion began to be used after the 1988 architectural exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York ^[11] . The work summarizing the basic principles of deconstructivism in the 1990s can be considered the text of Alison Jill “Deconstructivist fashion: the creation of unfinished, decaying and cross-woven clothing” ^[1] . In the work of fashion historian Ekaterina Vasilyeva, “deconstructivism” is considered as an intellectual and analytical system associated with the concept of language, disorder, structure and violation of the traditional fashion standard ^[2] .

Appearance

Deconstructivism is considered one of the most influential fashion trends of the 1980-1990s ^[12] . It arose as a reaction to continental philosophy ^{[7] [13]} and can be considered as one of the attempts to combine fashion and intellectual movement ^{[8] [2]} . Designers and critics emphasized the alternative nature of fashion deconstruction in relation to commercial or catwalk fashion, although this confrontation is rather arbitrary. Deconstructivism was oriented not so much on the mechanism and rules of the fashion industry as on philosophy and architecture ^[14] .

Basic Principles

Deconstructivism is associated with the emergence of a new cut technique that emphasized the structural elements of the costume. At the same time, deconstruction is considered as a performance against the style of the 1980s ^{[15] [16]} - it is evaluated as an attempt to create a new direction in a suit both from the point of view of shaping and in the sense of creating a new ideology of fashion. Deconstructivism presupposed revealing in the external appearance of the suit its design - cut elements. Deconstructivist clothing used open or roughly machined structural elements: outward seams, raw edges, asymmetrical hem, etc. ^[4] . These elements were used and positioned as a form of opposition to a commercial suit. The emphasis on the structural elements of clothing was intended to emphasize the alternative nature of fashion, its focus on the ideological and semantic meaning of clothing ^{[12] [17]} .

Cut and structure

Deconstruction in fashion implied the use of specific techniques of cutting and sewing . Their meaning was to update the internal elements of clothing ^{[2] [18]} . Among the formal signs of fashionable deconstruction are called "outward seams, trimmed hem, asymmetric structure of the costume" ^[4] . One of the signs of deconstructivism is considered hypertrophy of forms ^[5] and the use of increased sizes (the so-called "oversize"). The deconstructivist costume used elements such as open seams, torn or cut pieces. Deconstructivist fashion supported the idea of ​​unfinished clothing - the illusion of incompleteness was one of the hallmarks of a deconstructivist costume. It is believed that the cut of deconstructivist clothing was conceived as an analytical practice ^{[1] [8] [19]} .

Primary Names

There are different points of view which of the designers should be considered representatives of deconstruction in fashion. The list of key participants is ambiguous. In some cases, it is restricted to representatives of the Antwerp School, with particular emphasis on such names as Martin Margela and Anne Demelmeister ^[5] . There is also a tradition of referring to the deconstructors a wider list of names. In addition to Martin Margela and Anne Demelmeister, this list includes Dries van Noten , Youji Yamamoto , Ray Kawakubo, Karl Lagerfeld - mainly representatives of the Belgian and Japanese design schools ^{[1] [2]} .

Deconstructivism and the concept of intellectual fashion

The idea of ​​resistance, embedded in the framework of deconstruction, implied the desire to see fashion as an intellectual sphere ^[8] . Deconstructivism in fashion was a speech not only against the style of the 1980s , but also against a frivolous attitude to fashion in general ^[19] . The structure of the costume was presented by the intellectual side of clothing ^[3] . “Deconstructivism implied a change in the very principle of costume, ... [he] saw in clothes analytical precedent and a form of aesthetic resistance” ^[6] . Under the influence of deconstruction ^{[7] [13]} , a new strategy has formed in fashion - an understanding of fashion as an intellectual phenomenon.

The emergence of deconstructivism in fashion is associated with an architectural tradition ^[20] . The starting point is considered to be the exhibition "Deconstructivist Architecture", which in 1988 was held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York ^[11] . The exhibition presented the works of then-little-known masters Rem Koolhaas , Zaha Hadid , Frank Gehry , Peter Eisenman , Daniel Libeskind and Bernard Chumi ^{[11] [20]} . The architectural strategy implied a rethinking of the ideas of Russian constructivism , as well as the principles of classical architecture. Fashion and architecture had a common foundation: like architecture, the costume was an appeal to form. Fashionable deconstruction used architectural principles, in particular, a violation of standard ideas about form, design and structure ^[19] . Deconstructivism, which in philosophy implied a violation of an established system, in architecture and fashion implied the identification of structure.

Deconstructivism in fashion is usually correlated with deconstruction as a philosophical trend - first of all, with the works of Jacques Derrida . Fashionable deconstructivism is presented as a rethinking of the philosophical method formed by representatives of European and Yale schools ^[13] . Classical philosophical deconstructivism considered false ideas about the structure as the only possible form of thinking and language ^[21] . Fashionable deconstruction also implies that the fashion system in general and the costume in particular are erroneously represented as a structure. Deconstruction in fashion was part of a philosophical movement where the ideas of deconstruction could be expressed in applied forms. For fashion, an appeal to the philosophy of deconstruction was one of the ways to confirm its intellectual status ^[12] .

Initially, the concept of deconstruction proposed by Jacques Derrida (primarily in the work "On Grammatology", 1967) ^[22] proceeded from criticism of logocentrism , which laid the foundation for European thinking. The object of criticism of Derrida was the idea of ​​a direct relationship between words and meaning and criticism of the hierarchical structure of the language ^[21] . Fashionable deconstruction proceeded from criticism of stereotypical ideas about clothes and insisted on the possibility of violating the standard structure of the costume ^[23] .

Deconstructivism in fashion was not opposed to the idea of ​​order as such ^{[18] [17]} . It developed as a resistance to an order of a certain type: deconstructivism implied the possibility of decentralizing the system (including the fashion system) and the ability to verify externally established rules. In fashionable deconstruction, erratic was part of an established system. Fashionable deconstruction positioned mess as a structural element.

Deconstructivism in a suit has become one of the successive directions built on opposing the idea of ​​fashion ^[9] . He became a form of criticism of standard commercial clothing and implied the possibility of a system focused on a philosophical prototype. Deconstructivism suggested the possibility of a new social fashion landmark ^[24] . In addition, deconstructivism was one of the first large-scale movements, which indicated the very possibility of an alternative mode.

Deconstructivism was one of the trends implying the possibility of non-standard solutions in a suit ^[1] . He presented clothes not only as an object of strict rules, but also outlined the possibility of their violation as part of a fashionable strategy ^[2] . In addition, deconstructivism recorded in the suit a number of tricks and innovations: open lines, seams outward, asymmetry, etc.

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• Jill E. Deconstructivist fashion: the creation of unfinished, decaying and cross-woven clothing // Fashion Theory: clothing, body, culture. 2018. No. 4. P. 25-56. (Translation of Gill A. Deconstruction Fashion: The Making of Unfinished, Decomposing and Re-Assembled Clothes // Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture. 1998. Vol. 2.1. Pp. 25-49.)
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• Instagram Fashion Deconstruction Channel