Jarkko Karppinen

In this MA thesis project, fragility in menswear is explored through the male image in Japanese visual kei, alongside influences from glam rock, New Romantics, and goth subcultures. The project questions dominant Western ideals of masculinity, proposing instead a male image that embraces emotional expression, theatricality, and androgyny. Visual kei becomes a key reference point, where vulnerability and strength coexist, and identity is constructed through appearance and performance. The collection began with the colour red, acting as an emotional and material starting point—symbolising intensity, sensitivity, and the body. From there, the process developed through direct engagement with materials. Craftsmanship plays a central role, with a focus on mixing contrasting materials, combining delicate and structured elements to create tension between softness and control. Through layering and advanced surface treatments, materiality becomes a way to express fragility. The work focuses on androgynous silhouettes and challenges conventional expectations through materials not typically associated with menswear. By combining unexpected fabrics, the garments question established norms and open space for alternative expressions of the male body. Visually, the collection reflects the expressive language of visual kei—ornamentation, exaggeration, and androgynous silhouettes, rejecting binary perceptions of gender. By foregrounding fragility and referencing visual kei’s expressive culture, the work proposes an alternative vision of menswear—one that allows space for fragility, ambiguity, and transformation. Exploring fragility as an integral and visible aspect of masculinity, Karppinen invites viewers to reconsider how men are seen, represented, and allowed to exist within fashion and beyond.