• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.61 no.6
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• pp.113-130
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• 2011

Post-Modern Multiculturalism is spreading in many ways and other cultural interest has led to the Latin American culture, which has steadily appeared as the main fashion concept of the international collection. Frida Kahlo(1907-1954), a representative of Latin American culture and a Mexican female surrealistic painter, who gives us some inspiration for contemporary fashion design. The purpose of this study is to have a correct understanding of and research on Latin American culture and to expand the expression of fashion design. In the process, this article examines the costume of Mexico belong to the Indio culture which had been regarded as the Other for a long time and understands Frida Kahlo's fashion style: Tehuanas costume and her masculine style. The Tehuanas costume is a traditional style of the city, Tehuantepec, located in the southeast of Mexico, which is characterized by colorful floral patterns and a long skirt. Three fashion concepts were derived from her fashion style: tradition & modern, love & farewell, and masculine & feminine. The scope of this study investigates the Haute Couture and the Pret-a-porter women's wear collections and photos from 1998 to 2010 in Europe, USA and South America. From classifying the collected photos into each concept, three styles such as ethnic, romantic and androgynous style were derived. These fashion styles were analyzed through the formative elements of dress, color, silhouette, pattern, material and clothing construction in order to figure out how costumes of other cultures influenced on contemporary fashion. As a design inspiration, Frida Kahlo extends her influence into innerwear, accessories and hairstyles, as well as women's wear. These inspirations emerge steadily from the past and far into the future as an expression of a fashion design concept.