Welcome to the 198th insertion of DEMUR®, an analytical series highlighting the intricacies of the artistic world and the minutiae lying within. In this episode, we explore fashion’s seductive nature, tracing the history behind our relationship with body and textiles, concealment and exposure, as well as empowerment and shame.
Said best by the great Gini Alhadeff, “Fashion is the tool of the imperfect and the insecure.” Manipulated to mask one’s flaws or present prized features, at its core, the playful act of dress is used as a tool for seduction. Carving silhouettes through white silk or black lace, we’ve hidden our bodies for decades to increase the desire for sex, appeal and attraction. As an integral player in the art of seduction, we can only imagine fashion’s impact on allure, reproduction, and evolution.
Presented atop beauty's purest and atypical muses, fashion has always been a sensual game in profiting off our primal impulses. Flaunting what’s generally believed as the height of contemporary glamour, designers traditionally place models on a runway, walking as instructed in impossibly small, synched garments. Cycling ‘it’ girls faster than headlines can be written, our perceptions of the idealized man or woman are constantly contorted to the media’s pleasing.
Forcing many to reinvent themselves time and time again, design has become flexible in reaching the ever-changing facade of attraction. Breathlessly chasing after a new era of skin or shade, we often find ourselves confused with trends, prompting many to either submit or rebel. We simply chose to participate in the never-ending consumeristic hunt for external beauty.
Our endless desire for appeal has not only altered the way we design but the way we consume. Forcing many to become fearful of opposing society’s strict measures, the wearers sit in limbo, shamed or celebrated with others’ beliefs. Prompting designers to seek maximalist heights in Gucci G strings, or intense modesty in lumpy dresses, we seem to either promote fear or exaggerate confidence in risk-taking, disregarding the eye of the beholder to appease made-up standards.
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