Bridge Project 1: Artifacts of Beauty

As for our first project in Int Studio 2: Fashion, we had to choose three artifacts and summarize them after we visited the exhibition “Items: Is Fashion Modern?” at MoMA. We were assigned to do research on those artifacts and tried to look for a sense of beauty from them during the process. Here are what I have seen, felt, and learned from this project:

 

 

 

 

Compare Artifacts:

The first artifact was made by suede and created by Victor (U.S.) in the 1940s. It has a unique design and very high style, which demonstrates how people think during that period and their definition of beauty has transformed into unfamiliar concepts. The second artifact was created by a Japanese modern fashion designer, Noritaka Tatehana in 2010 and made out of leather. It is a design of heel-less platform shoes that people who wear it have to balance without a heel. The unique shape of this pair of shoes takes attention from the audience and expresses a strong and intense feelings for them to understand how this design seemingly defies the traditional concepts of physics. By comparing these two products, I find that both of them have similar shapes of the heels. The first one looks more balanced than the second one because it has a support for the heel at the bottom. In other words, people nowadays are more tending to create diverse unique or unfamiliar forms than before.

 

The Older Design

 

 

 

The New Design

 

 

 

 

Artifact 1

This one was designed by Thierry Mugler in 1981 from the series of Little Black Dress. Thierry Mugler used acetate, rayon crepe, and boning to finish this evening dress for women to present beauty. When I saw this piece from the exhibition, the first thing that drove my attention was the unusual shape of the dress and how it forms like that. It was actually combined by a lower neckline, a small waist, and the short skirt. The form and the fabrication of this dress expresses an idea of modern and powerful.

This dress gives me a sense of solemn. If I move within this model, I might feel uncomfortable or scared since this dress seems to be too perfect to wear it. I have to be careful on any steps while wearing this dress. Also, women who wear this dress have to be in a good shape and have certain individual temperatures. The dress is more likely in a punk style and represents a higher social status.

If I was the one who could re-design this artifact, I would like to utilize multiple recycle materials to give a try on different shapes of this dress. Specifically, if I use plastic or other recycle materials that are transparent or reflective, this dress would completely become a new piece. This imagination changes my first vision and thoughts about this dress. it helps me learn more about the form, function, and materials of the dress. In fact, this process of imagination is interesting for me to think about since people normally do not consider that much or even use another perspective to think. By doing this, I could explore more and expand other creative skills to use in my artwork.

 

 

 

Artifact 2

This piece was designed by one of the most famous fashion designer, Gianni Versace, in 1994 and it was original made in Italy. It was made by rayon, acetate, silk, metal, and rhinestones, and it was designed for Mrs. Kelly Ellman. When I first saw this black dress, I was attracted to the metals which were in the shape of pins on the dress and also the entire style of design of the dress. Women could wear this one to present their beauty because of its unique style. The idea of this dress was based on a bad girl in the black dress. Although the black color was already a certain symbol of dangerous during that time, the dress also had some pins added on it, which offers a sense of the combination of punk and danger. In this case, because of those pins, it could not be easy for women who wear it to move freely. I think women should be in good shapes in order to wear this dress. It can also be a gift for friends or family since it came from Versace, which has lasted for a long time and influenced the public in various ways.

If I could redesign this dress, I would like to use some high technology materials to make part of the dress become transparent and reflective. I may use different colors of light to shine the dress while presenting at the exhibition. I think it is interesting to think in this way and have lots of ideas based on what I have learned from researching this piece. It helps me to have a completely new understanding of the dress. The beauty of it is not only presented on the physical appearance, but also on the form, function, materials of it. It is not just a simple dress but something that can be reformed and changed by different individuals as time goes by.

 

 

 

Artifact 3

This was a interesting piece I found at the exhibition and it was a series of Tabi Boot made by Martin Margiela through his career. When I first looked at these unusual shapes of shoes, the first thought I had was that how people could wear these and why the designer created such unique shape to present beauty. The basic form of the Tabi Boot was originally come from a type of traditional Japanese socks back tot he thirteenth century. During that time, this kind of shoes were worn by the country’s workmen since the split-toes shape could give rise to the soft tabi shoes, which were cotton uppers and rubber soles. Because of this historical background, Martin Margiela got inspirited and recreated it by using new techniques and materials to express an unfamiliar form of beauty in public.

This piece was made by leather, sewing, and sticking. If I could redesign it, I would probably use plastic to present transparent or reflective. I think it could become a different shape when I try to make it out of plastic. It could be a challenge for me. In fact, researching this artifact provides me with more information about this item and I can learn a lot from it. I could also get inspiration from the process of imagining and produce more unfamiliar design based on this.