Fashioning the Digital Self: A Critical Analysis of Identity and Self-Expression in The Fabricant’s Digital-Only WHOLELAND Collection
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2024-06-28
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en
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This thesis explores the multifaceted relationship between digital fashion, identity, and self-expression in an interconnected, technologically driven world. It poses the question, “How does digital fashion, exemplified by The Fabricant’s WHOLELAND collection, challenge or redefine traditional concepts of identity and self-expression through fashion?” Using a mixed-methods approach including critical fashion analysis and digital ethnography, the research reveals a significant parallel between digital fashion and its material counterpart in shaping identity and self-expression. In virtual environments, these effects are amplified by the absence of physical constraints and expanded freedom of expression. Digital fashion emerges as a catalyst for identity formation, with avatar bodies evolving into sociocultural entities fashioned by consumers. The study highlights a hybrid 'phygital' identity and body paradigm, where physical and digital/virtual identities and environments coalesce, co-constructing each other dynamically. This extends to brand communities, where consumers collectively shape and embody brand identities through their engagement with digital fashion.
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