Plato, Square

The catalogue essay 'Plato, Square' is part of a broader project aimed at retrieving fashion theory from its present location, primarily though not exclusively within the social sciences, and restoring it to philosophy and literature, from which it has been more or less estranged since the mid-nineteenth century. The exhibition 'Cités de Mille Feuilles' held by S!X in Athens offers, through a consideration of the place and nature of the exhibition space, and the form, materiality and iconography of the exhibited work, the pretext for a tersely poetic examination of the relationship between dress and philosophy. The essay reflects upon their respective histories, geographical and cultural dispersal, political topoi, and the themes of time and transiency, worldiness and other-worldliness, reason and geometry, and the tripartite relationship of mind, spirit, and body. Most of these questions remain far-removed from the concerns of fashion theory. ATOPOS cvc is an innovative international cultural organisation working at the fringes of fashion and visual culture. The exhibition was supported by a research grant from RMIT's School of Fashion and Textiles.