Abstract
The purpose of this research was to look at the aesthetic characteristics embedded in Korean traditional artifacts to examine how these characteristics have been rejuvenated in contemporary Korean fashion. Traditional Korean aesthetic characteristics were categorized into four areas: pure formality, naturalistic simplicity, symbolic decoration, and playful spontaneity. The examples of fashion design which represent these four aesthetic characteristics were found mainly in fashion collections of Korean designers such as Lie Sangbong and Lee Young Hee. Examples were also drawn from fashion products from Minja Kim’s fashion design research laboratories at Seoul National University. The framework of the four aesthetic characteristics has shed light on how the aesthetic values of the past have been passed down to contemporary fashion design practice. Moreover, eclectic crossover features were found in contemporary fashion practice. There is a combination of past and present, Korean and Western, high culture and popular culture, and fashion and art. These features parallel the characteristics of postmodern fashion. However, Korean philosophy, ideas, and values as represented in the four aesthetic characteristics of Korean culture are embedded in the traditional cultural images that have been redesigned in contemporary fashion practice.
Highlights
Culture is a “complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society,” according to Tylor’s (1871; cited by Avruch 1998: 6) definition, which is one of the most comprehensive
Four Faces of Naturalism On the basis of the literature review, we propose a framework that is inclusive enough to explain diverse aesthetic features and that is distinctive enough to explain the uniqueness of Korean culture
We proposed an analytical framework composed of four aesthetic characteristics by studying past Korean cultural practices in order to understand how aesthetic characteristics from the past have been transferred to contemporary fashion designs inspired by Korean traditional culture
Summary
Culture is a “complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society,” according to Tylor’s (1871; cited by Avruch 1998: 6) definition, which is one of the most comprehensive. Culture is a way of life, and includes the material objects people own, the ideas, attitudes, and values that members share, social institutions, knowledge, and the behavioral patterns of a society (Ferraro 1998). The inclusive definition suggests that the diverse domains of culture are related to each other. The common threads are referred to as cultural identity. In distinguishing the cultural identity of one society from another, its material objects including artifacts and works of art serve as visible reflections of its ideas or values. Examining material objects is the first step to identify the espoused, overt, and unconscious values of members of a society (Schein 1984)
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