Fashion scholarship has prospered since the 1980s. Yet in spite of the stimulating research in this field, principally in the domain of design, gender, media and cultural studies, only a handful of scholars have written about fashion�s relationship with the artworld. This, inspite of the artworld increasingly drawing upon the idiom of fashion - �the new�, �the now� and hype, and the evolvement of sartorial fashion into an exciting new artistic medium as the result of an increasingly experimental attitude towards design. This thesis considers the idiom of fashion as part of art-making, and how we might critically approach fashion design as a visual arts practice. The relationship between fashion and the artworld is explored using the ideas of intersection, interplay and collusion. In utilising these ideas to explore the rapport between fashion and the artworld the multi-faceted nature of fashion�s relationship with the artworld, the slippages between the commercial and creative imperatives of fashion, are brought to the surface. This project grew out of a �debate� emerging in the 1980s and 1990s and occurring in articles and exhibitions which sought to identify and elaborate on a closer rapport between fashion and art. Based on this �debate� six sites of connection are considered, beginning with a discussion on writing about fashion from a visual arts perspective, and where a range of proponents and proposals are considered. The thesis then shifts to an analysis of the February 1982 special issue of Artforum which featured a garment designed by Issey Miyake on its cover. This is followed by an exploration of the value attached to fashion in the artworld. The fashion designer�s self-construction as a visual artist is the subject of the next chapter, followed by a look at the emergence of Conceptual Couture - ideas-based fashion. The final chapter considers fashion in the exhibition environment.

Thesis (B.A.)--Haverford College, Dept. of Religion, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wollongong, 2004. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (p. 330-338).

Thesis (MA--Art and Design) -- Auckland University of Technology, 2003. / Also held in print (98 leaves, ill., 30 cm.) in Wellesley Theses Collection (T 306.766 DEV)

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-133). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-108). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 1991. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2714. Abstract precedes thesis as [1] preliminary leaf. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 27-28).

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2009. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-89). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, June, 1994. / Title from PDF t.p.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [197]-211).