Shao s Bizarre Adventure: Una introspección de la masculinidad contemporánea a través la moda

Abstract

Abstract: This research analyzes Hirohiko Araki s JoJo s Bizarre Adventure as a semiotic system of men s fashion to generate character designs adapted to concepts of contemporary masculinity. Through a chronological analysis of the work s nine parts, the evolution of men s attire is examined in relation to Roland Barthes s semiotics of fashion and the theories on masculinities by R. W. Connell and M. Kimmel, translating identity traits into visual language through principles of narrative character design. The methodology combines research-creation with a local ethnographic approach. The study involved collaboration with three young men from Loja, Ecuador, aged 20 to 25, whose physical and personality traits were systematized in analysis sheets and visually translated. Each character narrates a deadly sin as the antithesis of a key aspect of the subject, following Jojo s logic of visual rupture. The results demonstrate that fashion, as a system of signs, constitutes an effective model for challenging hegemonic masculinity and proposing more complex and culturally situated representations. It articulates personal identity and aesthetic proposals without losing its local roots.