From traces to the void

structuralism, ontology of multiplicity, and fashion

Abstract

This text traverses signs, structuralism, and Being; it traverses fashion. Drawing upon the Barthesian idea that fashion represents the human capacity to make the insignificant signify, this article presents a philosophical discussion on how fashion constitutes an important dimension of the human Being, highlighting the playful character that characterizes human existence. The discussion is anchored in the structuralist premises presented by Roland Barthes regarding fashion and in the linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure, articulated with the contemporary reinterpretations of Patrice Maniglier, who argues that structuralism provides the basis for an ontology of multiplicity, in which Being is defined not by an essence, but by differential relations. From this perspective, the argument presented suggests a parallel between the arbitrariness of the sign and the existential void of life, which unfolds in the affirmation of the human capacity to signify nothingness, transcending mere survivalist ends and manifesting itself in expenditure and playfulness, with fashion being a singular expression of this capacity. Methodologically, the work is characterized as a conceptual article, grounded in the critical analysis of the bibliography and the use of Günter Brus’s artistic performance Vienna Walk (1965) as a guiding thread that articulates art, theory and fashion, exposing, within the text’s own structure, the defense of a philosophy of fashion as a philosophy of Being.