Published 6. 2. 2024
Dress code as an important aspect of contemporary fashion design
The current role of dress code in today's relativized world was the focus of the winter semester at the Studio of Fashion and Footwear Design at the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague. Their latest collection, subtitled "Red Carpet," was presented as part of the Bunka Fashion Graduate University Fashion Week in Tokyo, Japan, on January 30th, 2024.
"Dress code is a kind of unwritten social norm for how one should dress, it is shared and applied by society, though not absolutely. We know how to dress appropriately for a family funeral, a formal ball, or an interview at a respectable institution, and as participants, we recognize who does and does not acknowledge the appropriate dress code. A professional dress designer is rightly regarded by his customers as a dress code expert. This aspect of today's design is not undermined by the fact that respect for social norms, not only of clothing, is always weakened and even consciously rejected by a part of society", says Simona Rybáková, head of the Studio of Fashion and Footwear Design, to better understand the assignment.
What is the meaning and role of the formal dress code in our present day?
How do young fashion designers perceive the opportunity to dress clients and themselves for important life events requiring a formal dress code?
Students tried to answer these questions with the concepts of their projects and interpreted attitudes towards the topic on a personal as well as sociological level through the dress form.
The vast majority of the models work naturally with some of the current principles in the clothing industry such as zero waste, social design, recycling-upcycling, processing natural biodegradable materials, maintaining haute couture techniques, etc. The students' creative approach is evident in garment forms made of straw or metal net, shoes with fish scales, an outfit made of a square and a rectangle, and a top made of over a kilometre of thread.
The project included close cooperation with student interns from the Studio of Applied Photography, who not only documented the whole process but also creatively developed the given themes in their own independent visual expressions. The resulting garment forms in the chosen environment were captured in photographs and other visual media.
The show at Bunka Fashion Graduate University is not the end of the project, however; it will continue in the summer semester 2024 with the subtitle Everydays Red Carpet and will also be presented at the Milan Design Festival Salone del Mobile 2024.
Project Management:
M.A. Simona Rybáková, Ph.D.
MgA. Vojtěch Novotný
Students of the Fashion and Footwear Design Studio:
Kryštof Bača, Alica Grebáčová, Šárka Zejdová, Kateřina Puchmertlová, Barbora Fialová, Šimon Žák, Daniela Smolařová, Tereza Fodorová, Anna Ryšánková, Júlia Sadloňová, Hana Valtová, Valerie Vrbová, Václav Černý, Valerie Jurčíková, Tereza Chytilová, and Aleš Hnátek.
Student interns: Tomáš Višňovský, Stanislav Palán, Tatiana Zvolská, and Viktorie Macánová.
Master tailor: Miroslava Slabá.
Master shoemaker: Zuzana Jirsová.
External lecturers: doc. PhDr. Helena Jarošová, Ph.D., MgA. Radana Sikorová, Roman Dobeš, MgA. Štěpánka Stein, and Mgr. Nora Grundová.