• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.35-52
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• 2016

Yeohlee Teng's 'Urban Nomad' concept stresses high mobility and flexibility in 'Clothing-as-shelter' in order to satisfy the needs of urban dwellers. Yeohlee interprets clothing as a portable environment that protects and shelters urban nomads as well as creates space of clothing as intimate architecture. This study examines Nomadism in Yeohlee's designs since 1981 when she received the attention from the fashion critics, by conducting literary survey as well as case analysis. Nomadism in Yeohlee's work showed the following characterizes. First, 'modular system' deals with the organized dressing system that enables interchanging and layering of separates that function in the fifth season; second, 'organic geometry' describes the architectonic approach to clothing as wearable structure that transforms two dimensional geometry into three dimensional form; third, 'functionalism' refers to the use of technological novel materials, ergonomic clothing construction, and the strategy of using structure as decoration; and fourth, 'reductionism' is the economical approach for realizing Nomadism, which is composed of one-size-fits-all as well as unisex size system and 'zero waste' strategy to maximize use of a piece of cloth.