With reference to prototypes and designs by graduates of fashion design schools all over the world, this book explores the central question posed by the exhibition project: does international fashion design today still show the influence of culture and socio-ethnology—that is, elements of local significance—or is fashion, like so many other spheres of life, dominated largely by global currents?

The book also presents a fascinating parade of trends in international fashion design—including work from the renowned fashion schools of London, New York, and Antwerp as well as designs created by representatives of the largely unknown avant-garde from Africa, eastern Europe, Australia/Oceania, South America, and Asia. The contributing authors also discuss new, interactive forms of presentation that could well replace the traditional ideas of clothing on figurines in museum settings.

Exhibition schedule: Stadtmuseum der Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf June 25–September 25, 2005