Yesterday I went to Arnhem, the Fashion Biennale. The best exhibition was in the MMKA; Arnhem's modern art museum. Curated by Joke Robaard and Giene Steenkamp, the exhibition is an interesting research of the relation between fashion and language. In fashion magazines we read statements like:'time to get real', 'gold is the new black' or 'red is the new black' etcetera. What is real, and what makes a garment into fashion? The very first garments were just large pieces of woven fabric wrapped around one's body.
Later they became 'dresses, coats, skirts' etcetera. Based on philosophical quotes from Roland Barthes about 'real' the exhibition explores how functionality and beauty relate to each other in fashion.
According to Barthes 'real' clothing is divided in 3 layers: the real, tangible garment, the written garment and the imagined garment. In a fashion magazine the 'real garment' is absent; all we see is a representation of it in images and words. The curators keep asking during the exhibition: what happened to the real, woven garment? The chosen items show a great sense of craftmanship, with beautiful elements; very real.
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