• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.1-17
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• 2021

The development of the Internet has led to the emergence of an internet meme culture using duplication. This phenomenon has appeared in the fashion field as 'fashion memes' and its playful expression has helped it to spread. Vetements is one of the well-known brands that actively incorporates fashion memes into their fashion. The purpose of this study was to examine the playfulness of Mikhail Bakhtin's Carnival Theory and identify the playful identity, design characteristics, and implications of Vetements' fashion memes in light of Bakhtin's playfulness. The research methods were literature research and collection case analysis, and empirical content research was conducted in parallel. The scope of this study was fashion memes shown in the products from 2017 S/S to 2019 F/W. The study results showed that Bakhtin's playfulness could be divided into "playfulness in the destruction of hierarchy", "playfulness in grotesque imagery" and "playfulness in the emphasis on the lower bodily stratum". Based on these findings, the playful identity of Vetements' fashion meme images can be described as follows. First, it breaks down the existing order of fashion brands like the destruction of hierarchy in Bakhtin's theory. Second, it is grotesque; it is strange, eerie, yet ridiculous at the same time. Third, it is a playful metaphor of contamination, filth, and lower stratum. The modes of embodiment of such identity include Vetements' collaboration with famous brands, the use of cheap items, and the expression of genderless ideas.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.398-413
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• 2019

This study empirically analyzed the influence of fashion brands' marketing issues on actual sales and consumer preference-focusing on evaluation trends of brands over time by using the theoretical background and big data provided through literature. This study examined the influence of three fashion brands (Balenciaga, Vetements, and Off-White) that have recently seen a drastic increase in the number of searched volumes through social networks. To identify the consumer-brand evaluations and trends and the marketing issues, the time period was divided into Groups A and B, which are from 2014 to 2015 and from 2016 to 2017, respectively. This study analyzed the frequency of overlapping keywords by using the R program to graphically visualize the changes over the timeline. Specifically, this analysis extracted data mainly related to bags, wallets and accessories for 2014-2015, but in 2016-2017, all four brands saw a vast increase in the frequency of searching product keywords related to clothing and footwear, and newly extracted ones were the top keywords. When analyzing the big data with these keywords as indicators, I confirmed that the products related to bags, wallets, and accessories were shifted to those related to apparel and footwear. Consumers previously recognized luxury brands such as Balenciaga as accessories-oriented brands that were focused on handbags and sunglasses, but now they are gaining popularity and recognition among consumers as a fashion brand.