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ATOPOS cvc presents Not A Toy – the first book on the growing influence of Character design in fashion and art. Characters are reduced and abstract figures with a strong anthropomorphic appeal and bold graphical silhouette. Over the last decade, they have playfully sampled and remixed their way through visual codes and media, confronting the viewer head-on, regardless of cultural background. Now, this aesthetic strategy has a strong influence on contemporary fashion design. International artists create playful dresses, avant-garde costumes and hairstyles, re inventing the human body and sending their radical, new Characters onto the catwalk and beyond.

This extensive, colourful compilation features original essays by leading scholars in the field: Preface by the Editor Vassilis Zidianakis, ATOPOS cvc’s Artistic Director, Ginger Gregg Duggan & Judith Hoos Fox founders of the international curatorial partnership C2, José Teunissen, professor at the ArtEZ Institute of the Arts, Arnhem, Francesca Granata curator and editor of Fashion Projects: A Journal on Art, Fashion and Visual Culture and Assistant Professor of Fashion Studies at Parsons The New School for Design, Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York and Ted Polhemus anthropologist, curator and writer of the renowned book Streetstyle: From Sidewalk to Catwalk.

Participating artists & designers:
Andrea Crews, Josefin Arnell, Piers Atkinson, Andrea Ayala Closa, Makoto Azuma, Sandra Backlund, Walter Van Beirendonck, Maria Blaisse, Manuel Bolaño, Melanie Bonajo and Emmeline De Mooij, Olaf Breuning, Andrea Cammarosano, Gary Card, Cassette Playa, Jean-charles De Castelbajac, Nick Cave, Hussein Chalayan, Ahyoung Choi, Comme Des Garçons, Christophe Coppens, Robyn Cumming, Giles Deacon, Dr Noki’s Nhs, Katie Eary, Franc Fernandez, Friendswithyou, John Galliano, Elise Gettliffe, Paul Graves, Peter Gray, Craig Green, Christophe Hamaide Pierson, Hamansutra, Hans Hemmert, Iris Van Herpen, Boris Hoppek, William Hundley, The Icelandic Love Corporation, Riitta Ikonen, Ara Jo, Stephen Jones, Jean Jullien, Bas Kosters, Florencia Kozuch, Hung Qui La, Aldo Lanzini, Robin Lasser and Adrienne Pao, Matthieu Lavanchy, Jean-paul Lespagnard, George Lewin, Lucyandbart, Madame Peripetie, Maison Martin Margiela, Mareunrol’s, Bronwen Marshall, Isabel Mastache Martinez, Alex Mattsson, Alexander Mcqueen, Charlie Le Mindu, Issey Miyake and Dai Fujiwara, Shin Murayama, Né-net/kazuaki Takashima, Eva Nip, Pandemonia, Nicolas Petrou, Pictoplasma, Gareth Pugh, Niek Pulles Aka Heyniek, Pyuupiru, Frida Ringström, Freddie Robins, Rozalb De Mura, Agatha Ruiz De La Prada, Hideki Seo, Lisa Shahno, Patrik Söderstam, Alithia Spuri-Zampetti, So Takayama, Dharma Taylor, Alexis Themistocleous, Aitor Throup, Urban Camouflage, Pierre-antoine Vettorello, Henrik Vibskov, Anne De Vries, Junya Watanabe, Laura Welker, Bernhard Willhelm, Yoshikazu Yamagata, The Yes Men

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