Hollow honesty
An honest sit-down on all things ‘mannequins’ within the museum space.
Where even the ideal body proves not ideal enough.

To this day, working with mannequins usually means working with one particular type of body.

Engaging in the metier of mannequinage forces one to reconsider the concept of the body, says Devriese, more specifically, the notion as conceived within fashion.

.Pauline Devriese [conservator Modemuseum Hasselt]

As museums are not always in a position to implement the diversity they would ultimately like to see reflected within their space, they can consider touching upon some of the issues, dilemmas and interventions that come with operating as an institution facing fashion’s ambiguity, as a way of knowledge dissemination.
“We all are different, there’s no doubt about that. Only we don’t see it represented, as things tend to be modelled with the picture-perfect in mind.”

.Christel Van Rooij [agent for bonaveri]

In fact, the figures are quite telling: in almost 28 years as an agent for Bonaveri, she has had somewhere on the order of five commissions for what are considered more ‘plus-size’ mannequins.

DEC.2025

published in fashion’s missing masses
edited by kenna libes.published by vernon press


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