When set this particular task, I started off by scoping the WSA library (after the lecture given) for an interesting topic of research in which I came across the book ‘Techno Textiles: Revolutionary Fabrics for Fashion and Design’ which once read through slightly I could see multiple images which enticed me further. Furthermore, I found in particular an image which shows a women model wearing a ‘Shirt and Unisex trousers in ‘Milk Microfibre’’ taken by an unknown photographer on July 1996. I chose this image as it contained multiple subjects of choice in which would lead me into different paths and avenues to find more in-depth research on. For example, one subject choice I could possibly research into would be the start of the ‘Unisex revolution’ upon which only started within the 20th Century and societies are less conformed and structured now and lean more towards the gender-neutral/androgynous aesthetic due to becoming more open and acceptable in people’s views and ideas – the main designers who carried this movement forward were the likes of ‘Ann Demeulemeester’ and ‘Gareth Pugh’ who dubbed terms such as ‘gender-neutral’ and ‘Agender’. As well as this, this image also intrigues me to focus more on the fabric itself researching more in-depth into the ‘Milk Microfibre’ as that is the main focus of the books objective (as it looks into the specific techno textiles used within the garments themselves).
I decided to look on the internet for another image in which relates to the image which I got from the book from the library so I chose to look down the Unisex Revolution route and came across this particular image which came from searching on ‘Pinterest’ and is from ‘KTZ’s Fall 2017 Menswear Fashion Show’ which I found intriguing just purely for the fact I can clearly see development from the first image I chose which was taken in 1996 and this current image taken this year. I feel that this proves that societies are more open-minded and have less bias views on these particular subjects as barriers are crossed within fashion based upon gender clearly seen in both photos.
Furthermore, the next task specifies looking into museum exhibitions and archives to broaden our understanding of the image itself so I took it upon myself to look onto ‘Google’ and search for a museum exhibition/archive. Therefore, I came across this particular website which explained about a designer’s collection being shown in an exhibition which was based upon uniformity and neutrality which I found linked successfully with my images as they all convey the same message of conformity and gender-neutralism (expressing designs which fall within ‘unisex fashion’).
‘Shirt and Unisex trousers in ‘Milk Microfibre July 1996’:
‘KTZ Menswear Fall/Winter Fashion Show 2017’:
References:
- Techno Textiles: Revolutionary Fabrics for Fashion and Design – A book sourced from the ‘WSA Library’.
- https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/847521223597479541/ – An image taken from a search within the website ‘Pinterest’.
- https://www.radhourani.com/blogs/projects/15589821-5-yrs-of-unisex-phi-exhibit – A website in which gave me a deeper in-sight into ‘Unisex Fashion’ purely due to the fact the specific designer created a whole entire collection purely based upon the idea of gender-neutralism.