On March 17, when many New Yorkers were dressing in green and tweeting about St. Patrick’s Day, the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (@museumatFIT) reminded its Twitter followers: “Don't miss tonight's talk by visual artist Elena Fajt!” Ms. Fajt is a visual artist and associate professor of fashion design at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. That evening she presented her ongoing project, Hairsense, as well as an analysis of the symbolic dimensions of hair. The designer incorporates human hair into some of her garments, as did designer Chris March in the reality TV show “Project Runway” Season 4 finale in 2008.
Yet back in 2008, "Project Runway" host Heidi Klum and judge Michael Kors were slightly taken aback by Mr. March’s jacket and skirt, both trimmed with black human hair. But I ask what is the difference between wearing human hair and animal fur? Some fur is hair-like, such as a yak's.
Ms. Fajt’s Web site shows photos of hair-trimmed garments, hair hats, hair donations, and hair as artwork. I suspect Ms. Fajt and Mr. March may be starting a new trend. Some day wearing clothing trimmed with human hair may be as common as sporting green garments on St. Paddy’s Day. Now wouldn't that be a "tweet"?
Fantastic! I wasn't aware of the jacket created by Chris March. Definitely something for me to consider further. And yes, this is a story that will run and run!
ReplyDelete