Critical Fashion Practice - by Adam Geczy & Vicki Karaminas (Paperback)

About the Book

"There is a new form of design practice within the contemporary fashion industry which is active in complex forms of social commentary and critique. While fashion in the modernist era has shown signs of criticism and subversion, these were either in the form of subcultures or perversions, such as punk or BDSM styling. Today, however, these genres have been absorbed into the fashion industry itself, meaning that "critical fashion" is now far from limited to the subcultures from which it came. This book explores this new space for criticism within the popular fashion sphere to demonstrate how designers are disrupting conventions, challenging beliefs and stirring change from within the system itself. Critical Fashion Practice considers a range of contemporary designers across the globe, from the US to Japan, whose conceptual designs embody this critical language, including case studies such as Rei Kawakubo's deconstructive silhouettes for Comme des Garðcons and Walter Van Beirendonck's sadomasochistic menswear collections, amongst other key players such as Miuccia Prada, Vivienne Westwood and Viktor & Rolf. Arguing that the rise of critical fashion coincides with a noticeable decline in the criticality of art, Geczy and Karaminas go beyond slotting fashion into previously established art theories. Conceiving a new cultural role for fashion that affords insight into identity, class, race, sexuality and gender, this book shows how fashion can not only reflect and comment on, but can also be a part of social change"--

Book Synopsis

There is a new form of design practice within the contemporary fashion industry which is active in complex forms of social commentary and critique. While fashion in the modernist era has shown signs of criticism and subversion, these were either in the form of subcultures or perversions, such as punk or BDSM styling. Today, however, these genres have been absorbed into the fashion industry itself, meaning that "critical fashion" is now far from limited to the subcultures from which it came. This book explores this new space for criticism within the popular fashion sphere to demonstrate how designers are disrupting conventions, challenging beliefs and stirring change from within the system itself.

Critical Fashion Practice considers a range of contemporary designers across the globe, from the US to Japan, whose conceptual designs embody this critical language, including case studies such as Rei Kawakubo's deconstructive silhouettes for Comme des Garçons and Walter Van Beirendonck's sadomasochistic menswear collections, amongst other key players such as Miuccia Prada, Vivienne Westwood and Viktor & Rolf. Arguing that the rise of critical fashion coincides with a noticeable decline in the criticality of art, Geczy and Karaminas go beyond slotting fashion into previously established art theories. Conceiving a new cultural role for fashion that affords insight into identity, class, race, sexuality and gender, this book shows how fashion can not only reflect and comment on, but can also be a part of social change.

Review Quotes

Focusing on a handful of contemporary fashion designers whose collections in many ways challenge and critique societal norms, Critical Fashion Practice will prove indispensable for anyone teaching and/or studying fashion - or for anyone seriously interested in fashion, for that matter. Just as in their previous book on art and fashion, Geczy and Karaminas again have managed to write about fashion in a most refreshing and engaging manner, here offering nine theoretically astute yet surprisingly accessible case studies that will appeal to a large and varied audience.

Geczy and Karaminas have again written an essential book that pries open the critical context of contemporary fashion. Using clear language, they dive deeply into cultural and fashion theory to soundly shore up their research and interpretation on the modernity of male and female fashion and its relationship to the body, gender, art and design. Importantly, this book links history and theory with an understanding and acknowledgement of the craft and industry of making clothes. Read it and think.

Thinking through the work of key contemporary practitioners from Vivienne Westwood, Miuccia Prada and Rick Owens, this book looks beyond the image to present new frames of reference to both the fashion enthusiast and informed scholar. Richly textured and resourced, this incisive and penetrating read presents fashion as a philosophy, provocation and cultural touchstone. Critical Fashion Practiceis a cerebral tour de force and a must for anyone who has ever suspected there is more to fashion than meets the eye.

About the Author

Adam Geczy is an artist and writer who is Senior Lecturer at Sydney College of the Arts, the University of Sydney, Australia

Vicki Karaminas is Professor of Fashion and Deputy Director of Doctoral Research at the College of Creative Arts, Massey University, New Zealand