ABSTRACT

In this paper, we will explore the notion that beauty—an emergent value of human attention and emotional attraction—can help fashion designers plan and craft products that offer a rewarding, memorable encounter. Within fashion design studies, aesthetics continues to be one of the least-examined areas that deserve serious attention, and the research methods and interpretive techniques used by cultural studies can serve as appropriate models. The paper offers an overview of how cultural studies research may inform a specific aspect of fashion design, namely aesthetics. It also suggests that formalist evaluations of aesthetics and meaning, though valuable, are incomplete and need to be supplemented by other interpretive strategies that include social and cultural concerns. Engagement with the discourses outside the discipline can only enrich the discourse within, providing us with better tools for understanding the extent of the impact design has on the everyday lives of people.