Citation

Bancroft A. Fashion Theory - Journal of Dress Body and Culture 2011; 15(1): 67-82.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011)

DOI

10.2752/175174111X12858453158183

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article is a psychoanalytic reading of couture. It aims to show how couture, when looked at within the frame of psychoanalytic criticism, can be seen to exemplify conditions of human subjectivity, in particular notions of the feminine and the constitution of woman in the symbolic order. It seeks to reclaim fashion from the concerns of business; marketing campaigns, brands and profit margins are ignored in favor of a treatment of fashion that emphasizes creativity and people, and the fashion items themselves are treated with the aesthetic and critical courtesy that are routinely afforded to works of art. It should be pointed out that this article was completed before the suicide of Alexander McQueen, and while the potted biography here reflects this, the comments on his work remain as they were originally written, because I believe the impact of his work, and its significance, has not changed following his death. © 2011 Berg.

Language: en

Keywords

Psychoanalysis; Lacan; Avant-garde; Couture; Galliano; McQueen