William Morris on Textile Fabrics
In his lecture to the International Health Exhibition at the South Kensington Museum, London in 1884, William Morris gives a...
Prose
Clothing as Coding
Like all new-borns, wearable technologies are invariably smooth, precious and pure. In an i-Device era, the consumer is hidden from...
Helmut Lang: From Fashion to Art and Back Again
Today, Helmut Lang works an artist. His minimalist and deconstructivist work is no longer presented on runways, but represented by...
The Fig Leaf Mentality
On Power, Masculinity, Patriarchy and Man's Most Precious Ornament
It was a particular form of masculinity and male expression that Eldridge Cleaver believed had been suppressed through conventional male...
Fashioning the Freak Show
While some would argue the format of the freak show never gone away, the scopophilic frisson of the American sideshow,...
Fashion & Fragrance: The Niche Factor
Exploring Parallels Between the Sartorial and Olfactorial Realms
Though journalist James Harkin‘s theory sits in the context of economics, it could be applied to the rise of niche...
Keywords in Dress: The Fashion Cycle
The Fashion Cycle, or Trend Cycle, helps us trace a garment’s journey from ‘in’ to ‘out’ of fashion. It’s a...
Keywords in Dress: Unisex
The term ‘unisex’, rather fittingly, was coined in the Sixties. Prefixing ‘sex’ with ‘uni–‘ (meaning ‘one’) in the context of...
Fashion & Fragrance: Scents & Sex
Exploring Parallels Between the Sartorial and Olfactorial Realms
Fashion, sex and fragrance. All are, whether in a tactile, carnal or olfactorial sense, desires to be fulfilled but also...
Keywords in Dress: Denim
Jeans are one of the most powerful clothing icons of the twentieth-century. Famously named after the French town of Nîmes...
Fashion & Fragrance: Scents in Fashion
Exploring Parallels Between the Sartorial and Olfactorial Realms
Fragrance plays a pivotal supporting role for fashion companies by offering a democratic way for consumers to buy into an...
Keywords in Dress: Collar
The word ‘collar’ presents a sort of curt simplicity that seems to fit its form and function as an object...