Relay Column: Things Wrapped in Tattered Cloth (Takahiro Nogami)

The runway of Florence-based fashion brand AVAVAV frequently makes headlines.[1] In their Spring/Summer 2023 collection, models on the runway attracted attention with a unique presentation where they all sequentially fell over. In the following Autumn/Winter 2023-24 collection, amidst the models' strut on the catwalk, the items they wore were torn apart, disintegrated and fell, revealing quite the spectacle. Initially, only a few accessories would fall off, but slowly, the parts that fell off increased, and towards the end, the clothes fell off in various directions due to exerted pressure, sliding off the models. Consequently, the models would exit in a completely different form from their entrance. At the end of the show, when the designer Beat Karlsson arrived, the very walls supporting the show's stage collapsed, revealing the staff with awkward faces behind it.

＊

When we think about clothing, the object of our thoughts is, of course, the clothes themselves. However, defining the scope of what clothing entails is not so straightforward. When the object of our thoughts is vague, we tend to start thinking based on stereotypical images we already possess. Clothing is generally like this, we assume. But if we genuinely want to think about a particular subject, we need to be as versatile as possible in understanding what's included in that subject and account for it within our own understanding. Here, we attempt to expand the scope of clothing as an object of thought.