Re-presenting the body in fashion exhibitions

One of the greatest challenges faced when staging fashion exhibitions in a museum is how to address the perceived disjuncture between garment and body and the resultant loss of those narratives that derive from this interaction. In practice, the location of this problematic decontextualization often focuses on the substitute body, the mount that supports the exhibited garment, and which is predominantly realized through certain commonly employed presentation techniques. Within the context of those presentation techniques conventionally adopted for the display of dress I will examine examples that indicate innovative strategies for the representation of the body, illustrating my argument with evidence from recent fashion exhibitions, and discuss the factors that enable their development and realization. Finally, I will briefly examine digital media techniques recently employed in commercial presentations that might impact on museum fashion exhibitions.