The objectives of this study are follows: first, it defines the categorical concepts of sports fashion, and analyzes the prevailing factors of modern sports fashion; second, through categorization of ethnic images found in modern fashion it analyzes t...
The objectives of this study are follows: first, it defines the categorical concepts of sports fashion, and analyzes the prevailing factors of modern sports fashion; second, through categorization of ethnic images found in modern fashion it analyzes the reasons for which ethnic images are found in sports fashion, and the types of the images, and examines the trends over the years from 2000 to 2005 s/s; third, it analyzes the designs of designers' brands that use ethnic images in sports fashion and looks out on their future.
The results are summarized as follows:
First, categories of the concept of sports fashion and prevailing factors are as follows:
1. The categories include sportswear, sports look, sportive look, sports casual look and sportism, and the most broad term that may contain all the categories is sports fashion. Sports fashion, as a mix of emotion in sports and the fashion, matches existing formal, casual, leisure wears with sports wears, or uses materials, detailed designs, accessories, or images of sports wears.
2. The prevalence of sports fashion has been brought by the "wellbeing" trend that seeks stability both in body and mind, the trend that seeks practical design, the youth-oriented trend that desires to look younger than age, and the development of cutting-edge multi-functional materials, and it is expressed with application of high-fashion to everyday clothes.
Second, the trends of sports fashion over years, the factors of ethnic images, and the characteristics of each type are as follows:
1. In the early 1990s, ethnic images were strongly expressed in sports fashion due to the influence of naturalism. The trend was gradually shifted to functional futurism and minimalism and the expression of ethnic images was reduced after the middle of 1990s. From the late 1990s up to date in 2000s, functionalism has prevailed. Along with it, as wellbeing trend spreaded and technologies and primitive feelings based on sensitivity gained their recognition as core factors, emotional sports fashion has emerged as a mix of functionalistic sports fashion and ethnic image.
2. Ethnic image factors in sports fashion include "hybrid", multi-culturalism, and naturalism. "Hybrid" is expressed by combining or mixing sports sense and ethnic elements. Multi-culturalism features combination of ethnic elements and sports fashion with the influence of costumes from other Asian or African countries, Middle East and South America. Also, naturalism has emerged while ethnic mind training prevailed due to the proliferation of "wellbeing" enthusiasm that seeks return to nature, recovery of humanism, and respect to human body.
3. The categorical characteristics of ethnic images found in sports fashion are as follows:
1) The traditional image applies fashion modes, which are based on Asian ways of thinking, to sport fashion, and features traditional patterns such as yongmun, dangchomun and unmun, or brilliant colors such as gold or red in functional detailed design of sportswear, elastic materials, jumpers or cargo pants.
2) Exotic image expresses attractive images from other cultures. It is found in flower print, embroidery, or patchwork using loose silhouette, natural color raging from green to brown, natural materials and laces combining silk and linen.
3) Natural image has emerged due to the nostalgia toward nature and the proliferation of "wellbeing" trend. It especially uses synthetic fiber, artificial leather, and recycled materials in consideration of nature protection, and expresses patterns related to animals and plants, and leisurely straight/box silhouette.
4) Primitive image prefers the simplicity and crudeness in the primitive age to the smartness and elaborateness in civilized age. It mainly uses materials that may reveal the beauty of human body's shape as it is, and the silhouette is expressed in a simple form with natural colors.
Third, the ethnic images found in the sports fashion of designers' brands are as follows:
1. Prada, based on functionality and easy-to-motion, uses Africa's geometrical patters or accessories for items such as jumpers, skirts, or T-shirts. It is practical using Chinese Mandarine colors or wrap skirts.
2. Louis Vuitton, with practical and trendy sense, expresses orientalism by applying Africa's safari look, or patterns or detailed designs with the Orient being the topic to leather jackets or pants.
3. Gucci expresses ethnic images using traditional satin materials or embroidery for those items such as jumpers, jackets and cargo pants with the style of hippies or Japan being the topic.
4. Y-3 expresses sports fashion using Japanese plane cuttings that provide easy-to-motion by giving sufficient room of Adidas' three strips of different colors.
This study found that such fashion that mixes emotion in sports and ethnic images is recognized by modern people who strongly tend to enjoy their own life and seek free style, as a kind of fashion that may meet each individual's physical and spiritual desires.
In addition, since sports fashion has both functionality and fashionability as sportswear, it has the advantage of making access to the pubic easily as a practical design. From this point of view, this study has found that, applying ethnic designs that represent the image of each country to sports fashion appropriately to the sense of modern humans would help communicate the nation's image to the world and find the ethnic identity with a design combining each country's unique image and functionality/practicality.