Conceptual Fashion and Media Research as site- specific Narratives

Zapp, Andrea

This paper introduces academic research into conceptual apparel and fashion narratives that are inspired by diverse art and media aesthetics for unique collection stories. Distinct photography forms the design continuum with photo-real imagery carefully mapped onto patterns, creating fabric textures and garment shapes. They concentrate in their content on investigating place and space as a shared environment. The actual design practice is therefore embedded in a reflective discourse that is driven by exploring textiles as a social, factual or cultural platform for meaning and narrative. Fabric is treated as a screen and canvas for a collage of visual information, cultural environment, collective memory and association. In contextualizing this multi-disciplinary approach, wider theoretical implications and readings of narrative imagery in textile, fashion design and art are cross-referenced. A focus is on particular limited editions as a research model and case study within this practice. Bespoke ranges have been commissioned by partners in creative industries that explore site-specific histories and new insights for design outputs. They have been exhibited at international fashion weeks as well as in museum and gallery contexts. As a second outcome they have also played an important role by being commercialized in an academic spinout company and intersecting research strategy with academic enterprise. This is referenced in this context as an underlying support structure for dissemination of above experimentation.

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