11. Examination of a knitted swatch using ‘The Fashion System

~ An article of clothing may seem to be ‘meaningless’ in itself; so we must then, more than ever, get at its social and global function, and above all at its history; because the manner in which vestimentary values are presented (forms, colours, tailoring, etc.) can very well depend on an internal history of the system. ~ Roland Barthes 58

Examination of a knitted swatch using ‘The Fashion System’:

Object study: In terms of micro research, I present my own swatch as an example. I shall apply description and speculation to study the material object (knitted swatch).

Given below is an excerpt from a book that explains visual culture:

First, understanding a painting, picture or diagram requires that the interpreter understand the convention that marks, lines and shapes on a two-dimensional ground represent something in the world. An interpreter has to know that an image has been made with the purpose of representing something. 59

I take on the task of presenting blunder as an exterior on fabric (three-dimensional). As a spokesperson for failure, displaying this means treading the fine line between right and wrong. In the words of Roland Barthes, a prominent French literary theorist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician:

“Fashion 60 and literature 61 in fact utilise a common technique whose end is seemingly to trans- form an object into language: it is description.” 62

The broken, ripped and disfigured shift the entire meaning of the fabric from commonplace to the bona fide, they raise it to the distinctiveness of the never-before-seen. I leave my fabric open to interpretation with the hope that it conveys the right message. Which elicits the question, what do my defects actually denote and connote? And what does the overall swatch denote and connote?

Denotation (perceptual message) is the kind of meaning understood when shapes, lines, colours and textures are understood as representing things in the world. It is the kind of meaning that is understood when the answers to the questions,’What is that?’, or ‘What is that a picture of?’ are understood. Denotation is often explained as the ‘literal’ meaning of an image. 63

Connotation (cultural message) is slightly more complex. It is often explained as the thoughts, feelings and associations that accompany one’s perception of an example of visual culture. It is the feelings that a photograph makes one feel, the associations that a piece of design has, or the thoughts that come into one’s head whenever one sees a particular typeface. 64

58 Roland Barthes and Andy Stafford, The Language of Fashion, English ed (Oxford; New York: Berg, 2006), p.12.

59 Barnard, Malcolm, Approaches to Understanding Visual Culture (Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York: Palgrave, 2001), p.43.

60 Fashion = (here) knitted swatches

61 Literature = (here) this dissertation

62 Roland Barthes, Matthew Ward, and Richard Howard, The Fashion System, Vintage Classics Philosophy (London: Vintage, 2010), p. 12.

63 Barnard, Approaches to Understanding Visual Culture, p.149.

Denotation and connotation are crucial concepts in semiotics and are two elements that could prove useful to my understanding of what the knitted snags imply - in themselves and as a part of the overall fabric.

The defects denote (what they actually are): Rips /tears /mistakes /gape /absence of fabric where it should have been/a void. They simultaneously connote : Hurry /confusion /frustration /imperfection /improper knowledge of knitting /a kind of ‘stain’ on the entire textile. Due to the defect(s), the fabric seems unusable and undesirable. If I were a non-designer, I would view it as a thing of ‘high fashion’ or just plain brazenness. I might see it as an object of ‘fun’ and not something to be taken seriously. 65

Here the knitted faults on the fabric act as ‘signifiers’ 66 of the ‘signified’ 67 - imperfection/dispos- able (implies the representative function of the garment that makes it a total social object). I use elements from the book ‘The Language of Fashion’ by Barthes to support my analysis of the knit swatches. The utterance of the signifier is thus something completely other than a compilation of noteworthy traits : it is the actual birth, patient and delicate, of a signification. 68

Figure 8. Absence: The omission of elements can play a role which is meaningful, London, 2019. Photography: Shipra Chandran.

I try to decode the meaning of a hole (in fabric) - what did it mean then and what does it mean now? Could they be interrelated? The vestimentary sign can be expressed as the degree zero, it is never null. 69 Similarly holes, drop needle 70 and other defects signify something missing. On examination of the swatch, we see a vacuum in between the hole where stitches should be; missing stitches in a row where it should have been knit right etc. I highlight these ‘lost' elements by mending around them, placing into spotlight this ‘degree zero’. These visualisations of failure can play a powerful role by providing a showcase for the importance of self-acceptance - a significant statement to others and more importantly, to oneself.

65 To reiterate, these are solely my opinions. Having seen the processes behind the final fabric and worked with knitted fabrics for a few years now, I base my convictions off the experiences I have had.

66 According to the book ‘The Language of Fashion’, a dress is a signifier of a main implied idea or message

67 In tandem with the above explanation, ‘the signified’ represents the degree of participation and the value of the system that is meaningful.

68 Barthes, Roland, Matthew Ward, and Richard Howard, The Fashion System, p. 86.

69 Barthes and Stafford, The Language of Fashion, p. 29.

70 During knitting, one or some needles can be adjusted to ‘drop’ the stitch i.e. those needles will be dis-engaged to stitch and then engaged again right after skipping the stitch.

Figure 9. Right that wrong: A sample of my own work, a knit swatch with four types of defects - (from left to right) ladders, grease stain, drop needle and loose loops at the end due to improper needle take-up ,London, 2019. Photography: Shipra Chandran.

Figure 10. Set right: A continuum with the above image (Figure 10.), where mending has been done around the defect so as to: a. Highlight the imperfection b. Prevent the stitches from dropping to increase durability of the fabric ,London, 2019. Photography: Shipra Chandran.

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