Contextualising Production: Documentary data Analysis
The Articulation of Production segments of these Voguish Analysis chapters, present the production node, which refers to the creation of the text depicted on the graphic t-shirt (Scherer
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and Jackson, 2008). The segments entitled, Butan Wear: Articulating Production (Chapter 5) and Magents Lifestyle Apparel: Articulating Production (Chapter 6) presents the documentary data findings in narrative form, organised in thematic categories informed by the Encoding/Decoding model (Hall, 2006 [1980]). The documentary data of past interviews conducted with the designers of each brand were analysed using the Circuit of Culture moment of production (du Gay et al., 1997) and the process of analysing biographical narrative interviews (Rosenthal and Fischer-Rosenthal, 2004) as analytical tools, in order to make inferences about the manner in which each designer articulates production.
Contextualising Consumption: Reading of the T-shirts
Chapter 4 detailed the manner in which qualitative content analysis serves as a data collection instrument utilised for converting the contents of each t-shirt into individual units of analysis.
The chapter presented the templates used for the Butan and Magents analytical schema of visual static images used for converting the t-shirt graphics into data (see Chapter 4 Contextualising Consumption) as the second step of qualitative content analysis using the semiotic analysis (Chandler, 1994; du Plooy, 2009; Fourie, 2009) as an analytical guide. In this study the moment of consumption serves as the ‘readings’ of the t-shirts as the graphics are read as a text (Leve, 2012), as such the consumption node refers to the qualitative content analysis of each t-shirt undertaken in order to decode the aesthetics into analysable data. The Reading the Aesthetics segments of the Voguish Analysis chapters, thus serve as the academic ‘reading’ (decoding) of each t-shirt by presenting the tabulated findings from the Butan (Chapter 5) and Magents (Chapter 6) analytical schema of static visual images.
Contextualising Representation: Qualitative Content Analysis
The moment of representation refers to the text (Leve, 2012). As such, the discussions presented as part of the Articulating Representation are concerned with findings from the qualitative content analysis of the t-shirt as a form of text. The content analysis utilised Pieter Fourie’s (2009) Basic Semiotic Analysis and Daniel Chandler’s (1994) DIY Semiotic Analysis as analytical schema for interpreting the design elements of each four purposefully selected t- shirts.
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The interpreted findings from the Butan and Magents analytical schema of typology and layout are presented in narrative form, utilising the semiotic terminology that informed the pre-coded categories (see Chapter 4 Contextualising Representation sub-section) as a theoretical framework. These findings are discussed in light of the concept of langue and parole. The codes utilised by the designer (findings discussed as part of each Butan and Magents moments of production) detail the discursive production process of encoding meaning structure utilised in the creation of a media text (Hall, 2006 [1980]). In the context of design, this refers to the design process of gathering and synthesising ideas from the zeitgeist, transcribing ideas into a design concept, the articulation of the design concept into a t-shirt and finally the fabrication phase11 (Au et al., 2001; Le Pechoux et al., 2007; Smal and Lavelle, 2011). This research does not analyse the pattern structure and fabric choices of each designer and as such the fabrication phase is not discussed at length.
Threading Literature and Fabrics of Theory (Chapter 2 and 3 of this dissertation) described the manner in which fashion design can be analysed as a text. The literature surveyed in Chapter 2 which stated that each designer has a unique way of expressing the same zeitgeist and an understanding of that interpretation requires an understanding of the designer’s preferred use of design (Gick and Gick, 2007; Ames, 2008). Chapter 3 discussed the manner in which designers use the process and principles of design to communicate the various themes and meaning through their clothing (Gick and Gick, 2007; Bugg, 2009). This informs the discussion of the findings from the qualitative content analysis of each t-shirt as a reflection of each designer’s langue and parole.
The encoding process of each designer as codes utilised in the interpretation of the signified referent of the aesthetics on each t-shirt serve as langue (de Saussure, 1983; Chandler, 2007).
The interpreted signification and function of each sign informs the manner in which each designer uses the rules design process (langue) to create garments (parole). The description of the function of each sign contextualises the manner in which each sign (visual/linguistic message) communicates meaning as part of the whole communication process (Fourie, 2009).
The six sign functions of communication – phatic, referential, poetic, conative, expressive and metalingual – highlight the different ways in which each designer uses design to convey meaning. Each sign’s function serves as the parole (use of aesthetics of design to communicate
11 The fabrication phase refers the articulation of the design concept into fabric and colour choices, a workable pattern, and finally a garment (Smal and Lavelle, 2011)
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meaning) and the findings from the discursive design process serve as langue (the standardised design process as rules of communication) (de Saussure, 1983; Chandler, 2007).
Contextualising Identity: The Lived Reality of a Collective Identity
The Articulating Identity segments draw from the Circuit of Culture model definition of identity as meaning associated with the lived reality of the individual who uses the object under analysis (Champ and Brooks, 2010; Leve, 2012). The identity node draws from the cultural cues used by the producer during the production process of a cultural production in order to make inferences about the lived reality of the consumer (Curtin and Gaither, 2005). The discussions presented as part of the each fashion brand’s articulation of identity draw from the framework of collective identity (Ashmore et al., 2004) and the findings from the production, consumption and representation nodes in answering the research question about the t-shirt as a form of socio- cultural communication. The remainder of this chapter details the findings from the Butan Wear data analysis.