• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.62 no.2
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• pp.55-67
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• 2012

Based on the fact that a parody is widely used as one of main methods of creating art, this study focuses on the parodic techniques used by one of the most famous contemporary artists, Cindy Sherman. Her unique techniques, which are shown through parody, provide different aesthetical values to contemporary fashion designs. The purpose of this study is to find out whether or not contemporary fashion designs that use parodies can be presented as creative fashion designs. The study was carried out by analyzing data retrieved from various literatures, dissertations, magazines and the Internet. The period between the late 1990s and 2010 is the time when parodies were widely introduced, this study presents tables, pictures and photographs based on data collected from that period. The result of this study suggests that there are mainly four expressive techniques used to create Cindy Sherman's parodies: female viewed from a male's perspective, pornography and sexual satire, narrative and realistic reproductions, and foreignness and harmony in conflict. This study discovered that based on these four expressive techniques, contemporary fashion can produce the following four results according to their production styles, silhouettes, materials, and colors: the beauty of the retro pinup girl style, the beauty of eroticism and sexual satire, the beauty of history through reinterpretation of the past, and the beauty of compromise through conflict. As described above, this study attempts to seek how techniques of parodies give different aesthetical values whether or not they can become creative fashion design techniques by listing Cindy Sherman's unique expressive techniques in her parodies in relation to contemporary fashion designs.