Gone are the days when fashion relied on a runway launch with coinciding
press promotions to show a couturier's new range. Today, design houses
are thinking beyond traditional methods of display to stimulate interest
in their collections, such as to the internet, fashion film and, more
recently, fashion installations. This book offers a critical evaluation
of the changing ways in which fashion has been exhibited, focusing
specifically on the recent turn toward installation, whether in the form
of static presentations, interactive performances or the more
conventional curated designer exhibition.
Connecting viewers - and consumers - on an immersive level, the fashion
world has begun to appropriate installation methods traditionally
associated with displays of experimental art, transcending the runway
system and its constraints. This book turns to the designers who have
pioneered fashion installations, such as Aitor Throup, Muccia Prada,
Walter Van Beirendonck and Hussein Chalayan among others, and also looks
back to the early influential fashion displays by designers such as
Worth and Poiret to provide historical context.
Divided into three parts, and covering a variety of installations from
Vivienne Westwood's fashioned 'concept' stores to Gareth Pugh's
immersive films, this ground-breaking book positions the designer as the
curator and exhibition-maker and offers the first focused study of the
pertinent concept of fashion installation.
