The ontology of the fashion model

Looks at the nineteenth-century origins of the fashion model, partly by examining the etymological origins of the terms 'mannequin' and 'model'. It concludes by looking at some examples of the way these ideas persist in present-day fashion design and catwalk shows.

The model is an intriuging mix of things: it can be a rudimetary sketch, an idea, a miniature, a set of instructions or a prototype. Only in fashion is the model a living, breathing human being.

The 'Ontology of the Fashion Model' explores the origins of fashion models in the nineteenth century and their uncanny confusion with mannequins in the twentieth, teasing out the contradictions between the model dress and the model woman.