Ancient, Indigenous and Iconic Textile Motifs in Contemporary Fashion Case Study: Defining Concepts through Textile Designs: Appropriation, Collaboration, Provenance and Identity

This paper investigates the material and visual characteristics of certain ancient and historical textile motifs with roots in Chinese and African culture, and their sudden appearance in new geographical and cultural context. Appropriated into western contemporary textile and fashion trends, this paper examines the new roles of these designs in context of foreigness, identity, and hybridity. Their consumption and reception both within and beyond their original cultures is a central theme, and it is evident that their reception in both locations, although different, exhibits some similarities. Exploring the transcultural consumption and reception that occurs in various cultural locations this paper extrapolates the meaning and function of moving designs as well as textiles with their roles as cultural agents, and discusses aspects of authenticity and provenance. The paper demonstrates how various modes of material and design transfer from ancient culture impacts contemporary visual design through various processes of appropriation and “dissemination” of iconic imagery in process of movement. This leads to the discussion of the mobility of cultures and how we define cultures and aesthetics in relations to interculturality and hybridity, and to the concepts of refashioning of iconic designs and motifs in new cultural environments