Less is More. More or Less.

<p dir="ltr">Background </p><p dir="ltr">If fashion-garments can be said to function representationally, as Adam Geczy & Vicki Karaminas (Fashion’s Double, 2015), suggest, then the question of who produces fashion-garments, and for whom, becomes a critical issue of representation, as Caroline Evans and Minna Thornton (Fashion, Representation, Femininity, 1991), have pointed out. This research explores how everyday wearers might produce their own representations though fashion, despite most clothes being produced by large brands and conglomerates. In particular, the work engages with strategies for resisting representation akin to those employed Martin Margiela (ref: Martin Margiela ‘20’ The Exhibition, Kaat Debo, 2008) and for collaborative image-making, between wearer and the garment, as explored by Ulrik Martin Larsen (Outfit, 2008). </p><p dir="ltr">Contribution </p><p dir="ltr">Less is More. More or Less. was a dressing performance in which three wearers both produced and denied fashion-looks, by engaging with strategies of deletion, negation and collaboration through dress. During the performance, each wearer gradually covered themself using a series of black rectangles. As the wearers became hidden beneath the cloth, new tensions arose between themselves and what they wore, resulting in tucked and pleated areas that built up to resemble garments parts such as sleeves, skirts and collars. The final looks produced extended Cibis’s investigations into how wearers may represent themselves through dress and contributed to fashion practice by proposing new methods for both garment and image production. </p><p dir="ltr">Significance </p><p dir="ltr">This work was curated by arts-based researchers Vikki McInnes (The University of Melbourne) and Kate Barber (Monash University) as part of their research-focused gallery, ‘Sarah Scout Presents’ select 2020 program of seven exhibitions. It was also included in the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival (VAMFF) program for 2020, where it was attended by approximately 70 people, and garnered significant attention from other practice-based researchers. As a result, the project was then curated by Studio Practise Practice – who have collaborated with international brands such as Adidas and Oscar de la Renta – for an event with global cosmetics company Aesop that was staged at the prestigious Melbourne arts venue, Collingwood Yards (2021). This event received warm praise and was attended by approximately 100 people. Less is More. More or Less. then formed the basis of the 'Deletion Dressing' book chapter in Radical Fashion Exercises (2023) which was edited by highly regarded critical fashion researchers Daphne Mohajer Va Pesaran (RMIT) and Laura Gardner (RMIT), published by international leader in arts publishing Valiz, and awarded a Dutch Book Award (2023).</p>