Consumer acts

Abstract

This study has had as a focus the hypothesis that a fashion boutique is a site of contemporary theatre. The first part of the report examined the relationships of theatre, fashion, and culture. The second part of the report examined specific retail boutiques, with regard to the relations explored in part one. Topics examined were the mise en scène, delight, the role of director, image, scenery, prop, and costume. The sites of study were examples of retail architecture by Eva Jiricna, Rei Kawakubo in conjunction with Tokao Kawasaki, and Nigel Coates. Although all are fashion boutiques, these sites employ divergent architectural styles to achieve the same ends. It was concluded that the hypothesis could be applied to two of the three examples. The Architecture of Nigel Coates was not considered theatrical, because it did not rely on the mise en scène to affect the unconscious.