Towards design: Designing (history of) fashion

Abstract

The article explores the understanding and perception of fashion in terms of design. To demonstrate the relevance of such a research direction, the author analyses two exhibitions devoted to fashion: Items: Is Fashion Modern? prepared by New York-based Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and Fast Fashion: Dark Side of Fashion organized by the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg. The analysis shows that talking about fashion not through art and its language, but through the categories of design allows us to see it more  comprehensively and to grasp more problems. However, in order for a change in this direction to take place, it is  necessary to verify what we understand by the word ‘fashion’. One of the solutions is provided by Alice Payne, a researcher
from Australia. The division she proposes would make it easier to look at fashion not through art, but through design, which would enrich the language in which fashion is usually discussed and, consequently, its social perception. Finally, the author also proposes that the history of fashion should be appropriately enriched with the perspective of design, so that this discipline can take on a new meaning and thus support the transformation of fashion in the future.