• Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.87-103
• /
• 2020

This study investigates critical fashion and discusses its critical messages, as it challenges the existing system of the fashion industry. This study reviews the literature on critical art and critical design and analyzes exhibition catalogs, magazines, and websites related to critical fashion practices. Thereupon, this study assumes the two distinctive messages of critical fashion design: materiality and experience, and the redefinition of the ideal body. First, materiality and experience pursues a change in perceptions of clothing materials by way of deconstructing clothes and exposing the process of production. This type of critical fashion breaks away from the traditional sartorial conventions and articulates new structures and experiences through dematerialization. Second, the redefinition of the ideal human body attempts to subvert the stereotypes of ideal beauty and introduce a variety of beauty in the human body. This type of critical design reconstructs the human body through transformation, expansion, and deconstruction and is often liberated from the dichotomy of gender norms.