Conceptual fashion provides a platform for the display of diverse representations of the body by emphasizing intellectual exploration and presenting innovative functionalities of apparel. Mark Johnson contends that the body is intrinsically embodied; rather, meaning, thought, and perceptual patterns are not distinct from the mind. The dualism of mind and body has been rejected by subsequent phenomenologists, including Johnson. The objective of this investigation is to investigate the relationship between Johnson’s philosophy of the body and conceptual fashion through a case study of three prominent artists in this field: Alexander McQueen, Rei Kawakubo, and Hussein Chalayan. This study employs a descriptive-analytical research methodology to gather data through documentary (library) research. The fundamental inquiry of this article is: How does phenomenological embodiment manifest in conceptual fashion and the representation of women’s bodies from Mark Johnson's perspective?
The results indicate that the works under investigation facilitate the examination of four models of Johnson’s conceptualization of the body: ecological, phenomenological, social, and cultural. The primary focus of these fashion designers is the ecological body, which opposes the separation of mind and body to innovate discourses of thought, body, and clothing. The cultural and social bodies are among the most prominent concepts in the works of conceptual fashion artists, as they depict the social interactions of the body and cultural diversity, with a particular emphasis on women, through a variety of apparel. Thus, the concepts and meanings of the body, as interpreted by Mark Johnson, can be observed and analyzed within the context of conceptual fashion.