• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.475-487
• /
• 2008

The purposes of this study are to find the values of playful design by exploring what forms of playful expressions and characteristics appear in the haute couture collections that feature "high culture" other than street fashion or popular fashion and to help expand the scope to include newer and more creative design ideas. Concerning theoretical background, the study reviewed the literature to understand the concept of playfulness and see what types of playfulness there are and how it is expressed. Based on the results, the study examined the features of playfulness by analyzing the works of haute couture collections which since 2000. The results can be summarized as follows: First, designers in the haute couture collections constructed their own identities by expressing their instinctive desire for playfulness through graffiti such as cartoons or scribbles and delivering direct and specific messages or ambiguous and symbolic meanings through such things. Second, the haute couture collections revealed the human body in a transformed or distorted shape through deformation of clothes or accessories presented brand-new dressing styles by breaking away from the past ways of dressing; and expressed playfulness intentionally with distorted materials. Third, is the "depaysement" technique. This collage technique selects all possible objects going beyond inartistic routine matters or boundaries of which we are aware and changes their positions and purposes of use to express the playfulness of "harmony in disharmony." Fourth, the haute couture collections created a feeling of playfulness by featuring parodies of retro elements, a slice of popular culture, or a variety of painting styles. Finally, like using dolls or toys as accessories or making direct use of parts of clothes, combinations between attributes given by the images of those accessories themselves and creativities found in haute couture dresses are just as fun of authoritarian bias in favor of prestigiousness.

• Journal of Fashion Business
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.147-163
• /
• 2008

This research aims to develop cultural products for professional sales after producing creative products utilizing dinosaur characters, which are the representative exhibited item of dinosaur-centered museum. There are seven museums in Korea whose theme is dinosaur. There are three dinosaur museums among them, Goseong Dinosaur Museum at Kyungnam, Mokpo Natural History Museum, and Seodaemun Museum of Natural History. While inspecting cultural products within the museum shops of these three museums, general products occupy more than 80% of all the products rather than products related to dinosaurs, and has a problem that most products are decorative ones. This resulted from that enterprises supplying these products are not professional ones and are irrelevent to cultural industry; as result, purpose of conveying culture through products is lost. This research develops dinosaur characters utilizing computer 3D techniques in order to imbue unique characteristics to dinosaur museums and informing cultural speciality of our country. In addition, this research presented design method of cultural products by grafting traditional symbols onto these characters, and actually produced 11 items of 5 kinds: toys(dolls), clothes(T-shirts, pajamas, socks), stationery(notebooks, memo), accessaries (bags, umbrellas, handkerchief), and others(cups). On the items above, dinosaur characters are variously utilized in form of printing, embroidery, and stickers by using computer 3D technique. A cultural product is a tangible form which could show variety of cultural characteristics of our nation that could spread the culture through the consumers, and such type of purchasing could increase values of cultural industry by creating economic profits; such points are the significance of this study.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
• /
• v.57 no.3 s.112
• /
• pp.90-107
• /
• 2007

Modernization movement has affected classical operas. Today, classical operas are often re-interpreted from the modern perspective and played differently only with the storyline maintained. Also, operas are increasingly performed outside traditional theaters as the boundaries between stage and audience become less obvious. Accordingly, stage costumes are being differently designed than before. New attempts are being made to look costumes in a harmony with increasingly streamlined stage machinery. This helps increase public attention on operas, consequently promoting the opera industry. This study examines modernization of opera costumes. For this study, the author worked as one of costume design staff for "Faust," which was played in Sungnam Art Center from November 24, 2005 to November 27, 2005 in commemoration of the opening of the center. The following outcomes of the crowd are drawn from this study. A variety of splendid pink dresses, ribbons, dolls, hand mirror, and hair bands were used to express haughty girls with "Princess Syndrome." Fashion models, the envy of all woman, wore fashionable clothes including luxury dresses, fur-coats, high heels, purses, and hats, Models also had big shopping bags and gift boxes to symbolize shopping lovers in a modern society. Gay men wore tight leather trousers and vest and sleeves shirts with deeply cut neckline to express their preference for feminie style. their clothes were splendid colors that normally women liked such as gold, purple, light green, scarlet, and silver. Soldiers were in combat uniform representing their participation in the war. In particular, clothes stained with dirt, iron helmet, crutches, and canteens were used to vividly express soldiers coming back home from the war. Modern opera costumes now help reduce the time and space between stage and audience, improve economic efficiency, and meet the audience's needs for various style.