C R E AT I V I T Y a n d B R I C O L AG E

CULTURE IN FASHION
Bricolage or Do it Yourself Dress
Culture:
Fashion and Identity in Harajuku past time sub-culture as
an elaborate youth culture towards new styles in Drop Tokyo

FBA 302
‘Creativity is a natural quality . . . It
is the capacity for evolution . . . In
reality, human creativity is something
natural and simple . . . it is just that
man’s image of his own creativity is
too lofty’, according to physicist and
Nobel Prize winner Gerd Binnig.
Creativity is not a quality
demonstrated by humankind alone, as
is so often but mistakenly assumed; it
exists in the natural world to an equal
extent. Nature also produces ‘the
pointless but beautiful’ and ‘the
useful yet unimposing’; the aim is
evolution, although nature lacks the
power of imagination, any
‘imaginative fore-sight’.
❖ Hong Kong Polytechnic Univ. Fashion Design Students’ Show
the computer brain is based on the binary system of zero (0) and one (1). It accepts the validity only of an ‘either—
or’, a definitive yes or no. But human thought is more complex, allowing a ‘perhaps’. Here, parallels can be drawn
to fuzzy logic, that is to the unspecific, nonquantifiable ‘fuzziness’ that exists—with differing intensity—between
polar opposites and permits the possibility of a ‘perhaps’ with an open outcome. The space between the two
extremes, which is beyond the binary logic of the computer, represents the actual, independent sphere of creativ-
ity. In other words, creativity can be found not within the binary ‘either/or’, but in the open perhaps, in fuzzy
logic, in the place where an artistic-creative interpreta-tion takes effect.
❖

First invented by Gottfried Leibniz in the 17th century, the binary number system became widely used once computers required a way to represent numbers
using mechanical switches.
In the mid 1990s, the psychologist Hans Jürgen Eysenck conjectured that
creative achievements might be connected to particularly weak filtering of
stimuli in the brain. This filter function in the brain helps a person to select
the most relevant from a wealth of impressions, to distinguish between the
unimportant and the important. If the filter is especially permeable, it may
present a prerequisite to unusual associations—which Eysenck regards as
a typical characteristic of creativity.
“We attend to only a fraction of the sensory data available to us. New results are helping to explain how the
brain filters out the sensations least interesting to it at any moment.” Quanta Mag.
The illustration is by Jason Lyon for Quanta Magazine
 In addition, experience—that is, knowledge—helps our judgement and
the find- ing of associations in current information (cf. also p. 91): ‘For
this reason, a lot of knowledge is a good prerequisite to creativity, for it
enables the routine mastery of complex structures and thus increases
the amount of conceivable connectivity. It increases, so to speak, the
number of possible links in the semantic field . . . Knowledge helps
creative people to recognise problems in situations where they may
not exist for the less creative.’4

Bubble (puff) dress -

smock - cape - tutu -
gym slip - pleated Column (remember
dress Delphos by Fortune) -
peasant - sundress - straples tube - halterneck -
sailor - bustier - tulip pinafore/apron - circular - panel in hourglass shape - off-
dress peplum - handkerchief hem the-shoulder - coat - corset -
- sack - tunic - babydoll shirt - safari - bib and another
•TOOLS - KNOWLEDGE = TERMINOLOGY = CORRECT
VOCABULARY FOR FASHION DESIGN = An EXTENSIVE
DIRECTORY OF SHAPES WILL GUIDE YOUR DESIGN
PROCESS
Creativity and Freedom: Another essential precondition to
creative production is freedom: freedom of thought, emotion
and action. The philosopher and art theorist Boris Groys
reinforces the dictate of freedom (apart from the fact that the
cultural environment and society will define what is new to
them): ‘The new may not be planned consciously in the
context of a strategy oriented towards success.’ This
means that innovative or avant- garde fashion design should
and may - according to prevalent social demands—be
unwearable.
In the applied arts, purpose-free activity in the sense of ‘the
journey is the reward’ often resembles escapism, but it
creates an indefinable sphere of experience. Innovative
design does not mean restriction to simple reaction or
adaptation. One may assume that the designer consciously
aims to create something new from the outset. Freedom also
means a readiness to take risks.
The common view that ‘necessity is the mother of invention’
should be contradicted, for it applies only to the means to
escape the situation of direct necessity. Beyond this,
necessity has a paralysing effect, like all pressure and threats:
it narrows the imaginable horizon. In fashion, this pressure is
exerted by a demand for wear- ability or usability and
saleability. Cultural structures and the desire for recognition
restrict creative production to the same degree. As a result,
some designers finance their creative free space via second,
conventional collections or design contracts with the fashion
industry.
Often enough, freedom for personal creativity is generated as a result of frustration and disappointment over what already exists. In
other words, creative activity is triggered because routine does not function, that is there are obvious faults in it. Mary Quant, Jil
Sander and Gabrielle Chanel were dissatisfied with existing fashion, could not identify with it, and thus began to realise their own
concepts.
These ideas can develop into a personal design language and a consistent style: in the case of Azzedine Alaïa into the erotic, in Jil
Sander’s work into the purist and in Alexander McQueen’s creations into something sexist or even morbid.

Vogue Italia, October 1999 - Cate Blanchett Vogue Italia, November 1997 -
2013 ss Jill Sander Photo by Bruce Weber Photo by Bob Richardson
Jill Sander - SS 2013
Menswear
Creativity and Emotion :The creation of models and their
acceptance are linked to sensations. Sensations are
defined as emotions triggered by perception or memory.
Consequently, a line may be perceived as ‘sensual’ or a
form as ‘severe’. Sensations are connected with individual
preferences or personal character, but also with the
collective memory. Does a formal anomaly constitute
freedom for the designer/ artist—but bear the risk of
exclusion from society for the wearer? A suitable example
is the collection Dress Becomes Body Becomes Dress (also
known as Body Meets Dress, 1997) by Rei Kawakubo, in
which thick padding over one shoulder was documented in
the media as ‘Quasimodo-like’ and thus interpreted as a
disability, as an anomaly. This overforming was rejected
regardless of the fact that in the eighteenth century moulded
shapes one metre wide on both hips—the panier à coudes
—were also quite anomalous but sanctioned socially as
fashion. These historically sanctioned fashion aesthetics
have continued to exist as such within the cultural memory.
The cultural memory is a dominant characteristic in
9

questions of fashion in particular.

right side:
Rei Kawakubo - Body Meets Dress Dress Meets Body and
Bustles from 19 th cent.

❖
The term genius can be traced back to the Latin word ingenium: a natural-born talent. The essence of this talent is
seen as original productivity, which employs confident intuition to access new areas of creativity. The person who
has genius—that is, a brilliant creative power—is also known as a genius. It was not until the Renaissance that
people began to describe an artistic creative potential or the source of inspiration as genius.
In science as in art, the concept of genius is viewed today with increasing scepticism, or it is emphasised only in
an historical or socio-intellectual context. However, psychology and neurophysiology still investigate the
phenomena of special intellectual gifts and above-average original creativity. (see the interview piece from Martin
Margiela House)

❖
Ideas and inspiration:
In general, inspiration is understood as an intellectual force
that brings forth new ideas, which may be triggered by
experiences, encounters or dreams. Neuroscientist Semir
Zeki sees the production of ideas as a neuronal activity, while
12

representatives of systems theory explain the development of

ideas on the basis of communication and observation.
In order to develop creative ideas, it is possible to apply
various techniques and strategies such as brainstorming
or lateral thinking. Edward de Bono is regarded as a
leading teacher of creative thought. He has developed a
number of techniques intended to promote the finding of new
ideas and to help people to free themselves from ritual
patterns of thought; one of these techniques is lateral
thinking. Lateral thinking is divergent, nonlinear and
13

unconventional—even to the point of illogical— thought as

opposed to vertical, linear, conventional thought, which de
Bono also calls parallel thinking.

❖
To inspire not only means to illuminate but also to stimulate and
fill with enthusiasm. The designer must stimulate and rouse
enthusiasm—not only his own enthusiasm, but that of others as
well. Psychologist and health researcher Mihály
Csikszentmihályi refers to a state in which people become
completely absorbed in their activities as the ‘flow effect’. At the
highest level of concentration and tension, the self is
forgotten; subjectively, people experience a sense of merging
with the environment followed by the opposite: an expansion
of the self and personal satisfaction at having reached one’s
aim. The flow effect triggers and represents the essential basis
of euphoria, which can lead to much greater productivity and
achievement.
h t t p s : / / w w w . t e d . c o m / t a l k s /
mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_flow_the_secret_to_happiness?
language=tr TED Talk.
To sum up, it can be said that creativity comes about in the interaction between individual thought and an
environmental or emotional context. In the fields of art and design, creative actions evolve especially when
there is superfluous attention or frustration.Artistic-creative people have different potentials for creativity and
innovation. The following examples can be cited in reference to the important fashion designers of today’s avant-
garde:
Metaphorical thinking and creative associations—McQueen
Deviation, subversion and play—Viktor & Rolf
Lateral thinking in analogies and images—Chalayan
Discovery of cognitive order in chaos—Demeulemeester from Antwerp 6.
Autonomous cognitive decisions—Margiela from Antwerp 6.
Competence in the strategy of realisation—Beirendonck from Antwerp 6.

❖
Walter Van Beirendonck
collections
2020 V&R Bridal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae81FcczsI8 2007 Swarovski
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OofSFkRLg3w 2000 SS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK-P-VW2gCQ 2011 Sakoku
Strategies of Invention in Fashion
Provocation
The British psychologist Edward de Bono explicitly cites intellectual or sensory provocation as a creative
technique.In such cases, the characteristics of an object or a state of affairs are altered consciously in order to
generate paradoxical, unrealistic or unusual consequences. Starting out from these, an attempt is then made to
produce new results.
Vestimentary provocations function on complex levels of design; through extreme overforming and/or extreme
sexualisation of the body, through political-religious associations, or through a provocative presentation of
clothing. However, the new is not radical or provocative or obscene a priori. Provocation develops when the
‘communicative contract’ between the clothing and the consumer is broken, resulting in shocked rejection
or euphoric acceptance.
Alexander McQueen’s genius, for example, is founded on the integration of provocation that develops as a result
of the wide gap between his creations and the general image people have of clothing. As a rule, his creations
demand an interpretative effort from the recipient before they are accepted.

❖
Antonio Berardi’s Voodoo, 1997/1998, Thierry Mugler’s www.youtube.com/
Bum-Décolleté, 1995, John Galliano’s tanga-slip trouser w a t c h ?
suit made of newspaper print material for the Dior v=3NzclLCdkjw
Autumn/Winter 2000/2001 collection. John Galliano’s DIOR 2000 show
haute couture for House of Dior is less a provocation and
far more an aesthetic discourse with and about fashion;
mode pour mode in the same sense as l’art pour l’art.
His fashion design becomes an autonomous art form
through trans-vesti, ethnic and gender cross-dressing;
these means also form the basis of masquerade and are
celebrated around Galliano’s own person. Galliano
himself represents the high point of his défilé (instead of
or in addition to the bride), when he accepts his ovations
dressed up and styled according to the collection’s
theme.

Galliano for Dior 2000-2001 aw

Feelings and attractions like eroticism are articulated less by the
designer’s actual model and more from the outside, by photographers,
journalists and advertising (e.g., Gucci’s advertisements in 2003),
quite apart from the wearer. The designer fashion of 2006 was
characterised verbally in the journals as ‘nude’, for the frequently
used colour nude visualised an imaginary nudity.Just like it is also
labelled as nude with cut out dress trends in 2020.
❖
Also Vivienne Westwood’s Dressing Up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfhvm-9yVFU
collection, AW 1992 can be given under WESTWOOD 1992 show
the category of provocation within
creativity; including the leather corsage
Statue of Liberty and a leather codpiece
(the French braquette of the fifteenth
century) sewn onto the skirt
—‘according to the common definition,
can be recognised by their undisguised
intention to create lust, separating this
lust from the creation or its techniques’.
19

Vivienne Westwood succeeds in

attenuating the provocative by means of
humorous caricature or intimations of
human weakness. Some examples of
this are a fig leaf sewn onto tights, the statue of liberty corset -
slightly slipped bustle-cushion, or a Vogue Italia

well-formed male torso embroidered

onto a corsetlike (cuirass) top.
https://artsandculture.google.com/story/LAIiLdxF4pzDIg
Anglomania Collection
Eco Warrior ideals in 2008
Since provocation is always dependent on the attitude of the
viewer, it occurs only outside the environment in which it has
developed. Thus, the fashion of punks, rappers or goths meets
with agreement or admiration among those groups themselves.
Fashionable provocations from the street (as long as they are
not tolerated) are disproportionately greater than those from
the catwalk, since they emerge in public space and not within
the exclusive context of a fashion show. Provocation may also
be pure masquerade, like the dressing-up event held by youths
in Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park every Sunday. One of the aims of a mask
is also to provoke, of course.

Tokyo Map enlarged over Harajuku dist

❖ A small district of Tokyo in north of Shibuya City;
HARAJUKU is the site of some of the world’s most
experimental and elaborate youth fashion cultures.
The play of fantasy and escape is experienced
among the youth of Tokyo.
❖ Nowhere it is possible to see so many niche fashions
side by side as it is observed in Harajuku. The
supreficiality of the teens are celebrated by
admitting their posed identities. 50s themes, retro
styles, hippy, hip hop, hillbilly genres are played
without paying any attention to being authentic.
These styles actually grew not naturally or
gradually but by paying close attention to details of
dress; music; dance moves; and other stylistic
elements. This attitude makes evident that being in
a sub-culture is not essential as they become for
example a glam rocker just by looking like one. They
adopt and copy everything in quotations and
incongruity or being authentic are not important at
all as these teenagers have no ideological
commitment to the sub culture they play.
❖ Harajuku style takes all codes and signs out
of their original context and create a
BRICOLAGE at a crossroad when the line
between authenticity and reproduction
become unimportant. As this approach can be
understood as a postmodern phenomenon of
cultural interlacing of Japanese beliefs and
values- it can also be situated in Japanese
cultural philosophy of seeing identity as
something non essential and performative
(Philosophy of Buddhist monk Kenko - 1330s
“ a man who studies wisdom even insincerely
should be called wise”) especially before the
age of postmodernism.
❖
Fruitsmag insta Fruitsmag insta
❖ LETS LOOK AT THE TERM BRICOLAGE :
The term bricolage is introduced by Claude Lévi-Strauss; a french
anthropologist. According to the definition of Claude Levi Strauss,
bricolage refers to a work made by the materials ready to hand.
These ready-to-hand materials can’t always suit the intended design
or construction, based on the possibility that they might have been
made to be utilized for other purposes, or they even might have
been parts of an irrelevant construction made in the past. Although
this phenomenon of using what is in hand seems challenging and
restrictive, this is what makes the outcome of a bricolage work/
design unpredictible even by the designer him/herself.

Bricolage is not based on a regular routine or hierarchy; rather it’s

an experimental approach based on a trial and error process, where
materials play the most critical role.
Bricolage can also lead subcultures to emerge by people in diverse
Bricolage is a term used in this work (1962)
societies. Punk, being one of these subcultures, has been emerged
through bricolage of diverse elements and these elements were In his book “The Savage Mind” (1966) He describes bricolage as “the
utilized by punk society to convey a political message. Punk society appropriation of pre-existing materials that are ready- to-hand to create
something new.” Bricolage, which is originally a french word, and is
also adopted D.I.Y. approach in making clothes and music. translated to English as “D.I.Y” (Do It Yourself) Although it’s not “equal” to
❖ D.I.Y, it’s a method within D.I.Y.
Since bricolage’s use of material system requires to collect
and accumulate things from different resources, it can lead
to cultural appropriation and subculture system.
The creators of the subcultures can be considered as bricoleurs
as well. Alongside the other subcultures, “teddy boy” can make
a good example of how a piece of culture is taken, used,
spreaded and therefore lead a subculture to emerge. Teddy boy
style of fashion has arrived during 1950’s by the intention of
Savile Row tailors to revive the 19th century’s Edwardian
clothing style. The young men who adopted this clothing style
are the same people who rided motor scooters and listened to
rock & roll music which had no relevance neither with
Edwardian era nor with British herritage. So they didn’t only
use a piece of their history which also had been a symbol, but
also changed the way it was first presented by appropriating
unrelated concepts and combining them with each other and
other elements like suede shoes; and Tony Curtis hairstyle like a
bricoleur. It ended up subverting the original meaning of
Edwardian style which was elegant and sophisticated by
creating a whole new image as teddy boy which evokes
“delinquent gang”. (Ken Gelder, Sarah Thornton, 1997)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky2dt6sEwrw Teddy Boys
in a short docum. Right : Teddy Boy style in 50s; Left: 1950s
Saville Row style suit for wealthy clients.
❖
❖ The best documentation of Harajuku street
fashion is FRUITS magazine which was
established in 1997 by photographer Shoicki
Aoki and closed in 2017 due to the conviction of
Aoki that there are no more styles interesting to
photograph.
❖ FRUITS fashion is not about what one one wears
but more on how the wearer supersedes the
designer in generating style directions. Fashions
quickly emerge from the minority groups of
high school students to the imitating classes and
global commercial bodies who reproduce them.
❖ In FRUITS style a combination of D.I.Y
practice and Japanese traditional dress
is emphasized. Futuristic cyber - style;
Japanese couture; Western retro fashion
after 50s and new trends with hand
made and second hand items are
intertwined. These styles are too
eclectic and diverse to be categorized
as a single sub-culture but these styles
can be described as layered. The
hybrid quality of the images display the
Japanese taste of combining novelty
and tradition + East and West + the old
world and the modern .
❖ The more radical the event, the more attention they get and also more hidden
behind the styles. The harajuku sub culture likes to stand out in a big
metropol where they also hide their biological identities.
❖ There is a dialogue between the readers and the FRUITS magazine and other
street style magazines in Japan as the published pedestrians with their
creations are fully granted in the publications. But the street photographers
who shoot images at Laforet Mall or at Omotesando Street distort reality as
they elect, select and repeat some styles. This leads to the behavior change of
the individuals who would like to be selected as the camera models.
❖ The rockabillies were the first inspirations in 80s
Harajuku styles. Levis and Elvis outfits were seen
with poodle skirts of 40s; polka dots of 30s 40s and
the tribe was called zoku. They liked the attention to
be seen and also to be hidden under these looks.
People also enjoyed seeing them.
❖ The earliest Harajuku sub-culture is takenoko-zoku
(Baby Bamboo Shoots tribe) named after the 1st
boutique in Harajuku in mid 1970s.
❖ Their key looks were shiny robes; plastic whistles,
The boutique
fake pearl necklaces, name tags, kung fu shoes,
stitched stuffed animals stitched to their looks.
❖ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9I6x2zEI4s
❖ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjv60Riuun8
❖ This creativity moment peaked
around in around 1977 and
OMOTESANDO street was
claimed as Hoko-
Ten(Pedestrian haven). Traffic
was banned Sundays and
people would travel from far
away to see the parade of the
fantastical creations. In 1998
hoko-ten was abolished by
local government because it
was too noisy and crowded.
❖ https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=vimR_glYacs
❖ Now Fruits mag is not any more in use; but you
can follow the looks of the styles from instagram
Fruitsmag account.
❖ This magazine collected the beautiful; banal;
grotesque side by side and it showed that self-
costuming is serving to public as these people
show the joy in the mundane and artistic creation
can be made by anything and in anywhere.
❖ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXiFISfrUI8
a story of Kenta Kimura
❖ h t t p s : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ?
v=uiwzkACL3xg Bunka Fashion School Drop
Tokyo
Graduated Alara Takılmaz’ 2020 collection
❖ 1 min time to watch 2020 grad Fashion Show for A. Takılmaz’ graduation
collection:
❖ 1 min time to watch DropTokyo screenshot video
❖ The third assignment will be a design work
after the movie “Children of Heaven” (1997)
by Iranian director Majid Majidi.
❖ Design a collection of 5 different shoes for
the protagonists of the movie Zahra and Ali.
❖ The task is to use the elements from the
cultural habitat that these children live in.
These could be the textiles, the architecture,
the color stories of the movie.
❖ The due date is 2nd of November Monday
morning 2 hrs before class time.
❖ We will not have any lecture course next
Thursday 29 October due to Republic Day
Holiday.
Movie Poster “Children of Heaven” 1997
THANK YOU FOR YOUR

SINCERE ATTENTION
AND HARD WORK !

Collage work by Elif Pamukçu

 Reference Books :

❖ When Clothes Become Design - Design and Innovation Systems by Ingrid

Loschek
❖ Fashion: The Key Concepts by Jennifer Craik
❖ V&A Museum
❖ Google Arts and Culture
❖ Unpublished Thesis Work of Graduated Student Alara Takılmaz