A Study on the ZEN(禪) style in Contemporary Fashion

현대 패션에 나타난 젠(zen:禪)양식에 관한 연구

This study focuses on the Zen style in contemporary fashion which presents itself as one of the dominant cultural phenomena these days. After investigating the basic concepts and features of the Zen style and examining its birth and development, this study moves on to the ways in which it is characteristically applied for the world of fashion. This study is also performed both by the theoretical research on related books and papers for the explication of main concepts and by the practical research on fashion magazines and works of famous fashion designers for the presentation of more detailed illustration. When we are talking about postmodernism, which is a reaction against or a continuation of modernism, as a cultural dominant shown up in the late twentieth century, the Zen style itself can be regarded as a typical representation of postmodernism in fashion. Although the Zen style can be viewed as sharing the basic principles with minimalism which is a main branch of modernism, it is strongly in line with postmodernism (which is human-centered) in that its fundamental idea is based on emotions and feelings of human beings and the purity of natural world. As above, ZEN is a crossover phenomenon between postmodernism and modernism. In this sense, it is said that within the name of postmodernism the Zen style has satisfied our desire to present our inner world of mind with the help of regional philosophy (in this case Oriental one). The four main aspects of the Zen style in fashion are following : simplicity connected with the Oriental moderation, the use of the Oriental silhouette and detail, the destruction of form, and the nature-friendly attitude. These will be under close examination in this study.