UNITED BY STRIPES
A research on the diabolic and unifying quality of the stripe in dress
Issue # I:
stripes by heart and hand / thisisnotparis summer-collection 2004
a poster / format A1
(Available for free at Blumen)
Issue # 2:
workshop + discussion:
one stripe ahead/ a research on global, local and personal use of
the stripe in athletic performance
Lecture / Discussion:
-Is there still a need for a national style and what does a national style
(or it’s symbols) implicate nowadays? *1
Date: Monday 10th May - 9.30 pm
More info: via email
Workshop:
-Design a soccer shirt for the (not existing ) European team.
Date: Sunday 09th May - 2 pm
More info: via email
Project background information:
Stripes have the quality to set apart and to uniform. Throughout the ages stripes
have been worn by monks, prostitutes, servants, prisoners, sailors, pop-stars
and little kids. The meaning of the stripe or striped fabric was never fixed
but claimed to serve a lot of purposes. It’s meaning varies from diabolic
to hygienic and from stylish to revolutionary. In the Middle Ages the striped
dress was reserved for the condemned and the servants. The modern and contemporary
stripe on the other hand has progressively transformed into a tool for setting
things in order (remember for example the domestic / hygienic stripe; who of
us never slept in bleu-white striped pyjamas, under bedcovers of the same pattern
after having brushed the tooth with the striped toothpaste of signal ®).
But if the stripe organizes the world and society, the stripe itself seems
to remain unwillingly to serve any organization or meaning too rigorous or
to limited.
“
The stripe is such a dynamic surface structure that it only can be covered
at a run. The stripe doesn’t stand still. It is in perpetual motion,
animates all it touches, endlessly forges ahead, as trough a driven wind”
(Pastoureau, the devil’s cloth, 1991)
UNITED BY STRIPES is an ongoing research. The aim is not to re-construct the
meaning of the stripe in dress but to publish information on human transactions
and proceedings concerning dress codes in a matter that will be both attractive
and informative. The research Issues will focus on different design topics
that are loosely connected with the meaning of the stripe in dress.
If you’re interested in the outcome of the different parts you can subscribe
to acquire the connected publications: via email
All possible information and suggestions on one of the subjects is very welcome!:
*1. Starting points for Issue # 2 one stripe ahead / a research on global, local
and personal use of the stripe in athletic performance are two stories about
public annoyance of the sponsor's (Adidas in this case) power to impose their
visuals on the club style. These visuals (three bands in this case) fully connote
the idea of speed in athletic performance but the use of the three-stripe brand
does not only promotes athletic performance as such but also blurs the reading
of the existing code system in soccer shirts.
(In Holland there is an ongoing discussion between the Ajax supporters and
their club-sponsor about the club outfit. In 2000 Adidas replaced Umbro as
their sponsor. This means that Adidas will provide design and supply a new
away strip every season and a new home jersey once every two seasons. Adidas
(of-course) imposes their tree stripes on the sleeve of the club outfit. This
was not easily accepted by certain fanatical groups of Ajax fans: the three
characteristic (red) stripes on the white sleeves of the Ajax home jersey were
considered blasphemic).
(In 1974 Johan Cruyff played the World Cup final (between Holland and West
Germany) in a shirt with two stripes on his sleeves instead of tree as opposed
by his club sponsor Adidas. After this his rebellious act was imitated by other
team members (the van de Kerkhof twins, Rene and Willy, insisted on being issued
with the Cruyff-style two-striped shirts or else they were off).
STRIPE:
1a.
A long narrow band distinguished, as by color or texture, from the surrounding
material or surface.
b. A textile pattern of parallel bands or lines on a contrasting
background.
2. A strip of cloth or braid worn on a uniform to indicate rank,
awards received, or length of service; -To earn you stripes.
3. Sort; kind:
-They came in all stripes.
TO STRIP:
1. To remove by peeling or pulling it off.
2. To remove the surface
or contents of something.
3. To take one’s clothes off.
Thesaurus: disrobe, undress, divest oneself unclothe oneself; Antonym: dress.
4. To take to pieces; to dismantle.