A fashion exhibit in Human Ecology’s Jill Stuart Gallery invited its audience to acknowledge and appreciate the beauty of cultures – their own and others, as well as to celebrate the rediscovery of cultural heritage as an inspiration for creators in all fields.

The exhibition “Dress and Body: Oneness or Duality?” was the creative outcome of a research project by Jooyoung Shin, assistant professor of Fiber Science and Apparel Design, and examined the physical and conceptual relationship between dress and body in various socio-cultural contexts, ultimately to define the ways in which the meaning and the form of dress is perceived and constructed based on different perceptions of body.

“My creative journey began with a question: why have dresses from the East and West evolved into very different shapes?” said Shin. “It could be because both cultures developed very different, distinct perceptions of the body.”

According to Shin, Eastern and Western cultures have established substantial disparity in their understanding of the body throughout history. For example, Westerners generally believe that the body is not only separate from the mind, but also is relegated to a subordinate position under the mind’s control. In comparison, in Eastern culture the body and mind are inseparable, so they are understood and perceived as one.

“Consequently each culture, with such divergent perspectives, has constructed a distinct dress-body relationship,” Shin said. “The designs in this exhibit represent the visual dynamics between dress and body inspired by the dress-body relationships established in Eastern and Western cultures.”

The exhibit was described as a visual feast that not only invites the audience to acknowledge and appreciate the beauty of cultures, but celebrate the rediscovery of cultural heritage as an inspiration for creators in all fields. It also demonstrated how an abstract concept can manifest in a form of dress with the mix of old and new technologies and materials to broaden the spectrum of creativity and feasibility.

“Inspired by the profoundly distinct dress-body relationships established in Eastern and Western cultures, in this design project, innovative design principles are developed to represent the visual dynamics between dress and body of both cultures simultaneously,” Shin said.

The exhibit ran from Nov. 20 through Jan. 17 and was funded by HLC Group.