This study analyzes the expressive characteristics of fashion design through sensory experiences, focusing on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition Sleeping beauties: Reawakening fashion. It aims to explore the creative and innovative potential of fashion design that utilizes sensory experiences while proposing new directions for future fashion exhibitions and the design field. The research scope includes 220 garments and accessories featured in the exhibition. Based on theoretical considerations and case studies, this research classifies and examines fashion design characteristics from the perspectives of olfactory, tactile, visual, auditory, and multi-sensory experiences. The findings indicate that olfactory experiences enhance emotional engagement by integrating fragrance with storytelling, while tactile ones increase immersion through fabric texture and structural elements. Visual experiences strengthen aesthetic appeal and narrative through various digital technologies and lighting effects, while auditory ones convey the emotional messages of fashion design using sound and music. Additionally, multi-sensory experiences combine multiple sensory elements to provide viewers with an immersive, multidimensional experience. This study confirms that sensory experiences expand the creative possibilities of fashion design and suggests new exhibition strategies that integrate sustainability and digital technology. Beyond simple stimuli, sensory experiences foster emotional connections and contribute to enhancing fashion design’s artistic and cultural value. Therefore, this research highlights the importance of integrating sensory experiences with creative approaches and technological convergence to amplify the social and artistic impact of fashion design.

Since the late 2000s, fashion exhibitions have expanded to encompass a variety of concepts and sizes, and the need for research on exhibition planning, installation, and direction, including curating, is emerging. In this context, basic research is deemed necessary to encourage more experimental and in-depth research into the planning and orientation of domestic fashion exhibitions. Accordingly, by analyzing the exhibitions of Judith Clark, a pioneering fashion curator, and fashion exhibition planner, the aim of this study is to examine the characteristics and directing points of her curation. This study proceeds as follows: first, the concept and type of fashion exhibition and curation are investigated. Second, the exhibition cases curated or produced and installed by Judith Clark are examined and analyzed. Finally, based on this analysis, the characteristics and directing points of her curation are identified. In exhibitions, Clark’s directing style features use of a variety of objects, the diversification of the flow-path through space division, and collaborations with various fields or experts. Clark’s curation points, based on such characteristics, are as follows: reproduction- oriented curation to capture the age of the time based on historical research; storytelling-based curation; and transboundary curation with multiple methods and open processes. This study is expected to serve as a foundation and precedent that will lead to further research on fashion exhibitions and implementation.