ABSTRACT
In recent years, digital transformation has challenged fashion’s association with materiality and touch. Clothing, traditionally associated
with craftsmanship and materiality, is emerging in immaterial spaces composed of pixels and data. This shift raises the question: To what extent does digitally constructed clothing draw its meaning from traditional practices of dressing? Does it merely extend these established meanings into the digital realm, or does it generate an entirely different system, independent of its physical equivalent? This paper critically explores digital fashion, not only as a technological development, but also as a cultural phenomenon that challenges conventional notions of the act of dressing and the aesthetics achieved by that act. To this end, it will draw on the theoretical framework of Jean Baudrillard’s concept as a key theorist of simulation and hyperreality, as well as Roland Barthes’ semiotic analysis of fashion as a language that communicates through symbols, styles, and cultural codes. The paper explores whether digital clothing represents a new form and meaning of creative expression or merely reproduces established forms and meanings of traditional clothing. The research and demonstration rely on original digital fashion designs, which serve as tools for examining new meanings in digital fashion.
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