Alternative notions of the body in fashion design

The body is central, a reference and starting point in fashion design. The purpose of this researchpaper is to re-contextualize the understanding of the body and explore its varied perception in fashiondesign development. To investigate this artistic research perspective a workshop was conducted withBA1 fashion design students to explore possible alternative notions of the body. The purpose was to rethink and re-discover the pre-conceived notions of the body and its scale in fashion design processes.This questioned the idea of fashion and further reflected on what could a body be in fashion designdevelopment rather than what it is. The explorations were done through a workshop with the studentsto stimulate their analytical and conceptual skills. The two-day workshop included methods of experimentations, reflections, dialogue, and discussions. The task was planned to keep in mind the four categories of learning i.e., directed, exploratory, productive, and reflective. The facilitative tools i.e., verbalizing thinking during the process through discussions, cooperative learning methods while working intogroups were applied to develop dialogue and questioning. This discourse about body approximationand alternatives gave a new perspective on fashion design development. The result of the explorationsis alternative models for understanding the body as a central variable in fashion design. The resultshave implications for design methods in fashion design development.