Published by Pictoplasma Publishing, Berlin
Edited by Vassilis Zidianakis, ATOPOS cvc
ISBN: 978 3 942245 02 9

ATOPOS cvc presents Not A Toy – the first book on the growing influence of Character design in fashion and art. Characters are reduced and abstract figures with a strong anthropomorphic appeal and bold graphical silhouette. Over the last decade, they have playfully sampled and remixed their way through visual codes and media, confronting the viewer head-on, regardless of cultural background. Now, this aesthetic strategy has a strong influence on contemporary fashion design. International artists create playful dresses, avant-garde costumes and hairstyles, re-inventing the human body and sending their radical, new Characters onto the catwalk and beyond.

This extensive, colourful compilation features original essays by leading scholars in the field:
› Vassilis Zidianakis, Artistic Director of ATOPOS cvc: Preface
› Ginger Gregg Duggan & Judith Hoos Fox, founders of the international curatorial partnership C2:  ’Characters on Parade: Contemporary Character Design invades Catwalk’
› José Teunissen, professor at the ArtEZ Institute of the Arts, Arnhem: ‘Beyond the Individual: Fashion and Identity Research’
› Francesca Granata, Assistant Professor of Fashion Studies at Parsons The New School for Design, curator and editor of Fashion Projects: A Journal on Art, Fashion and Visual Culture: ‘Decentering Fashion: Carnival Performance and the Grotesque Body’
› Valerie Steele, Director and chief curator of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York: ‘The Exaggerated Body of Leigh Bowery’
› Ted Polhemus, anthropologist, curator and writer of the renowned book Streetstyle: From Sidewalk to Catwalk: ‘Atopic Bodies’

Participating Designers & Artists:
Agatha Ruiz De La Prada (ES), Ahyoung Choi (KR), Aitor Throup (AR), Aldo Lanzini (IT), Alex Mattsson (SE), Alexander McQueen (UK), Alexis Themistocleous (CY), Alithia Spuri-Zampetti (IT), Andrea Ayala Closa (ES), Andrea Cammarosano (IT), Andrea Crews (FR), Anne De Vries (NL), Ara Jo (KR), Bas Kosters (NL), Bernhard Willhelm (DE), Boris Hoppek (DE), Bronwen Marshall (UK), Cassette Playa (UK), Charlie Le Mindu (FR), Christophe Coppens (BE), Christophe Hamaide Pierson (FR), Comme des Garçons (JP), Craig Green (UK), Dharma Taylor (UK), Dr NOKI’s NHS (UK), Elise Gettliffe (FR), Eva Nip (NL), Florencia Kozuch (AR), Franc Fernandez (AR), Freddie Robins (UK), Frida Ringström (SE), FriendsWithYou (US), Gareth Pugh (UK), Gary Card (UK), George Lewin (UK), Giles Deacon (UK), Hamansutra (DE), Hans Hemmert (DE), Henrik Vibskov (DK), HEYNIEK (NL), Hideki Seo (JP), Hung Qui La (VN/US), Hussein Chalayan (UK), Iris Van Herpen (NL), Isabel Mastache Martinez (ES), Issey Miyake/Dai Fujiwara (JP), Jean Jullien (FR), Jean-Charles de Castelbajac (FR), Jean-Paul Lespagnard (BE), John Galliano (UK), Josefin Arnell (SE), Junya Watanabe (JP), Katie Eary (UK), Laura Welker (DE), Lisa Shahno (RU), LucyandBart (NL), Madame Peripetie (PL), Maison Martin Margiela (FR), Makoto Azuma (JP), Manuel Bolaño (ES), Mareunrol’s (LV), Maria Blaisse (NL), Matthieu Lavanchy (CH), Melanie Bonajo and Emmeline De Mooij (NL), Né-net/Kazuaki Takashima (JP), Nick Cave (US), Nicolas Petrou (CY), Olaf Breuning (CH), Pandemonia (UK), Patrik Söderstam (SE), Paul Graves (US), Peter Gray (ZW), Pictoplasma (DE), Pierre-Antoine Vettorello (FR), Piers Atkinson (UK), Pyuupiru (JP), Riitta Ikonen (FI), Robin Lasser and Adrienne Pao (US), Robyn Cumming (CA), Rozalb de Mura (RO), Sandra Backlund (SE), Shin Murayama (JP), So Takayama (JP), Stephen Jones (UK), The Icelandic Love Corporation (IS), The Yes Men (US), Urban Camouflage (NL), Walter Van Beirendonck (BE), William Hundley (US), Yoshikazu Yamagata (JP)

Download:
Not A Toy (sample)

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