Suspending Time in Fashion
On Grès, Contemplating Dress and Glimpses of the Sublime
- Name
- Anabela Becho
- Year
- 2023
- Institution
- Lisbon School of Architecture Universidade de Lisboa
- Supervisors
- Rita Almendra, Ulrich Lehmann
- Discipline
- Fashion Design
- Scope
- Museology
- Taxonomy
- Phenomenology
- Type
- Theoretical
- Language
- English
- Wordcount / Pagecount
- 127,212 / 596
- Joint supervision
- No
The suspension of time in fashion through the work of Madame Grès and its museum representation
Research Process (7 methods)
x
The garments representing the Archetype of Madame Grès' work
Primary source materials including photographic prints, press releases and legal registrations of models
Anne Graire, Alexandre Samson, Caroline Bringand, Dennita Sewell, Harold Koda, Kaat Debo, Karen Van Godtsenhoven, Kathleen Mahieu, Laurence Benaïm, Laurent Cotta, Martine Lenoir, and Micheline Decamps
One residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris
Testing the suspension of time in a museum context
Designers, fashion students, researchers, conservators, and museology professional
| # | Name of Method | Research Phase | Research Approach | Researcher Role | Object of Study / Participants | N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Literature review | Exploratory | Qualitative | x | x | x |
| 2 | Artefact analysis | Generative | Qualitative | x | The garments representing the Archetype of Madame Grès' work | 31 |
| 3 | Archival research | Generative | Qualitative | x | Primary source materials including photographic prints, press releases and legal registrations of models | unspecified |
| 4 | Interview | Generative | Qualitative | x | Anne Graire, Alexandre Samson, Caroline Bringand, Dennita Sewell, Harold Koda, Kaat Debo, Karen Van Godtsenhoven, Kathleen Mahieu, Laurence Benaïm, Laurent Cotta, Martine Lenoir, and Micheline Decamps | 12 |
| 5 | Residency | Generative/Evaluative | x | Participatory | One residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris | |
| 6 | Curatorial practice | Generative/Evaluative | Qualitative | Design process | Testing the suspension of time in a museum context | x |
| 7 | Workshop | Generative | Qualitative | Participatory | Designers, fashion students, researchers, conservators, and museology professional | 16 |
Knowledge Transfer & Exchange
Knowledge Exchange (PhD Process): Produced with input
| IK&T | Academia | Design Practice | Society |
|---|---|---|---|
| Context | Yes | Partially | Partially |
| Vision | No | No | No |
| Means | No | No | No |
Recommendations (5)
Develop innovative and more experimental forms of fashion exhibition that allow visitors to see, experience, and think about clothing beyond conventional display formats.
- Scope:
- Macro
- Time Horizon:
- Long
- Evidence Strength:
- Indicative
- Feasibility:
- Medium
Integrate the written, visual, and material dimensions of fashion artifacts—vêtement-écrit, vêtement-image, and vêtement-réel—more deliberately in curatorial and editorial projects.
- Scope:
- Macro
- Time Horizon:
- Medium → Long
- Evidence Strength:
- Indicative
- Feasibility:
- Medium
Use non-visual and multisensory devices—such as sound installations—to evoke absent garments, memory, and embodied imagination in museum contexts.
- Scope:
- Macro
- Time Horizon:
- Medium
- Evidence Strength:
- Exploratory
- Feasibility:
- Medium
Develop curatorial and editorial projects that use historical fashion material without nostalgia, treating the past as a resource for rethinking the present and future.
- Scope:
- Macro
- Time Horizon:
- Long
- Evidence Strength:
- Exploratory
- Feasibility:
- Medium
Curate fashion exhibitions as intellectually rigorous, aesthetically compelling, and socially engaged museum experiences that reflect fashion’s cultural, economic, and political significance.
- Scope:
- Macro
- Time Horizon:
- Long
- Evidence Strength:
- Indicative
- Feasibility:
- Medium