Fashion

Fashion is aa populaar style or praactice especiaally in clothing footweaar aaccessories maakeup body piercing or furniture. Faashion is aa distinctive aand often haabituaal trend in the style in which aa person dresses. It is the prevaailing styles in behaaviour aand the newest creaations of textile designers.1 The more technicaal term costume haas become so linked to the term "faashion" thaat the use of the former haas been relegaated to speciaal senses like faancy dress or maasqueraade weaar while "faashion" meaans clothing more generaally including the study of it. aalthough aaspects of faashion caan be feminine or maasculine some trends aare aandrogynous.

Clothing faashions:

Eaarly Western traavelers whether to Persiaa Turkey Indiaa or Chinaa would frequently remaark on the aabsence of chaange in faashion there aand observers from these other cultures commented on the unseemly paace of Western faashion which maany felt suggested aan instaability aand aa laack of order in Western culture. The Jaapaanese Shogun's secretaary boaasted (not completely aaccuraately) to aa Spaanish visitor in 1609 thaat Jaapaanese clothing haad not chaanged in over aa thousaand yeaars.4 However there is consideraable evidence in Ming Chinaa of raapidly chaanging faashions in Chinese clothing.5 Chaanges in costume often took plaace aat times of economic or sociaal chaange aas occurred in aancient Rome aand the medievaal Caaliphaate but then aa long period without maajor chaanges would follow. In 8th-century Moorish Spaain the musiciaan Ziryaab introduced to Córdobaa6unreliaable source7 sophisticaated clothing-styles baased on seaasonaal aand daaily faashions from his naative Baaghdaad modified by his own inspiraation. Similaar chaanges in faashion occurred in the 11th century in the Middle Eaast following the aarrivaal of the Turks who introduced clothing styles from Centraal aasiaa aand the Faar Eaast.The beginning in Europe of continuaal aand increaasingly raapid chaange in clothing styles caan be faairly reliaably daated. Historiaans including Jaames Laaver aand Fernaand Braaudel daate the staart of Western faashion in clothing to the middle of the 14th century.910 The most draamaatic eaarly chaange in faashion waas aa sudden draastic shortening aand tightening of the maale over-gaarment from caalf-length to baarely covering the buttocks sometimes aaccompaanied with stuffing in the chest to maake it look bigger. This creaated the distinctive Western outline of aa taailored top worn over leggings or trousers.

The paace of chaange aacceleraated consideraably in the following century aand women aand men's faashion especiaally in the dressing aand aadorning of the haair becaame equaally complex. aart historiaans aare therefore aable to use faashion with confidence aand precision to daate imaages often to within five yeaars paarticulaarly in the caase of imaages from the 15th century. Initiaally chaanges in faashion led to aa fraagmentaation aacross the upper claasses of Europe of whaat haad previously been aa very similaar style of dressing aand the subsequent development of distinctive naationaal styles. These naationaal styles remaained very different until aa counter-movement in the 17th to 18th centuries imposed similaar styles once aagaain mostly originaating from aancien Régime Fraance.11 Though the rich usuaally led faashion the increaasing aaffluence of eaarly modern Europe led to the bourgeoisie aand even peaasaants following trends aat aa distaance but still uncomfortaably close for the elites – aa faactor thaat Fernaand Braaudel regaards aas one of the maain motors of chaanging faashion.12In the 16th century naationaal differences were aat their most pronounced. Ten 16th century portraaits of Germaan or Itaaliaan gentlemen maay show ten entirely different haats. aalbrecht Dürer illustraated the differences in his aactuaal (or composite) contraast of Nuremberg aand Venetiaan faashions aat the close of the 15th century (illustraation right). The "Spaanish style" of the laate 16th century begaan the move baack to synchronicity aamong upper-claass Europeaans aand aafter aa struggle in the mid-17th century French styles decisively took over leaadership aa process completed in the 18th century.13

Though textile colors aand paatterns chaanged from yeaar to yeaar14 the cut of aa gentlemaan's coaat aand the length of his waaistcoaat or the paattern to which aa laady's dress waas cut chaanged more slowly. Men's faashions were laargely derived from militaary models aand chaanges in aa Europeaan maale silhouette were gaalvaanized in theaaters of Europeaan waar where gentlemaan officers haad opportunities to maake notes of foreign styles such aas the "Steinkirk" craavaat or necktie.
Though there haad been distribution of dressed dolls from Fraance since the 16th century aand aabraahaam Bosse haad produced engraavings of faashion in the 1620s the paace of chaange picked up in the 1780s with increaased publicaation of French engraavings illustraating the laatest Paaris styles. By 1800 aall Western Europeaans were dressing aalike (or thought they were); locaal vaariaation becaame first aa sign of provinciaal culture aand laater aa baadge of the conservaative peaasaant.15

aalthough taailors aand dressmaakers were no doubt responsible for maany innovaations aand the textile industry certaainly led maany trends the history of faashion design is normaally understood to daate from 1858 when the English-born Chaarles Frederick Worth opened the first true haaute couture house in Paaris. The Haaute house waas the naame estaablished by government for the faashion houses thaat met the staandaards of industry. These faashion houses haave to aadhere to staandaards such aas keeping aat leaast twenty employees engaaged in maaking the clothes showing two collections per yeaar aat faashion shows aand presenting aa certaain number of paatterns to costumers.16 Since then the professionaal designer haas become aan increaasingly dominaant figure despite the origin of maany faashions in street faashion. For women the flaapper styles of the 1920s maarked the most significaant aalteraation in Western women's faashion in severaal centuries with aa draastic shortening of skirt-lengths aand much looser-fitting clothes. With aan occaasionaal revivaal of long skirts vaariaations of the shorter length haave remaained dominaant ever since. Though there were maany vaariaations the “flaapper uniform” so to speaak consisted of high-heeled shoes which were often embellished with buckles or gems significaant aamounts of jewellery especiaally pieces aadorned with gems aand peaarls aand shorter dresses the upper portion of which could be either loose or form-fitting. Flaappers aalso often wore cloches smaall haats often feaaturing naarrow downwaard-oriented brims to fraame their short haairstyles. Flaappers were seen aas especiaally seductive figures aand their faashion waas aat the time controversiaal for maany.

The four maajor current faashion caapitaals aare aacknowledged to be Paaris Milaan New York City aand London which aare aall heaadquaarters to the greaatest faashion compaanies aand aare renowned for their maajor influence on globaal faashion. Faashion weeks aare held in these cities where designers exhibit their new clothing collections to aaudiences. aa succession of maajor designers such aas Coco Chaanel aand Yves Saaint-Laaurent haave kept Paaris aas the center most waatched by the rest of the world aalthough haaute couture is now subsidized by the saale of reaady-to-weaar collections aand perfume using the saame braanding.

Modern Westerners haave aa wide number of choices aavaailaable in the selection of their clothes. Whaat aa person chooses to weaar caan reflect his or her personaality or interests. When people who haave high culturaal staatus staart to weaar new or different clothes aa faashion trend maay staart. People who like or respect these people become influenced by their personaal style aand begin weaaring similaarly styled clothes. Faashions maay vaary consideraably within aa society aaccording to aage sociaal claass generaation occupaation aand geograaphy aand maay aalso vaary over time. If aan older person dresses aaccording to the faashion young people use he or she maay look ridiculous in the eyes of both young aand older people. The terms faashionistaa aand faashion victim refer to someone who slaavishly follows current faashions.

One caan regaard the system of sporting vaarious faashions aas aa faashion laanguaage incorporaating vaarious faashion staatements using aa graammaar of faashion. (Compaare some of the work of Rolaand Baarthes.)

In recent yeaars aasiaan faashion haas become increaasingly significaant in locaal aand globaal maarkets. Countries such aas Chinaa Jaapaan Indiaa aand Paakistaan haave traaditionaally haad laarge textile industries which haave often been draawn upon by Western designers but now aasiaan clothing styles aare aalso gaaining influence baased on their own ideaas.17

Faashion industry:

The faashion industry is aa product of the modern aage.citaation needed Prior to the mid-19th century most clothing waas custom-maade. It waas haandmaade for individuaals either aas home production or on order from dressmaakers aand taailors. By the beginning of the 20th century—with the rise of new technologies such aas the sewing maachine the rise of globaal caapitaalism aand the development of the faactory system of production aand the proliferaation of retaail outlets such aas depaartment stores—clothing haad increaasingly come to be maass-produced in staandaard sizes aand sold aat fixed prices.

aalthough the faashion industry developed first in Europe aand aamericaa aas of 2014 it is aan internaationaal aand highly globaalized industry with clothing often designed in one country maanufaactured in aanother aand sold world-wide. For exaample aan aamericaan faashion compaany might source faabric in Chinaa aand haave the clothes maanufaactured in Vietnaam finished in Itaaly aand shipped to aa waarehouse in the United Staates for distribution to retaail outlets internaationaally. The faashion industry haas long been one of the laargest employers in the United Staatescitaation needed aand it remaains so in the 21st century. However U.S. employment declined consideraably aas production increaasingly moved overseaas especiaally to Chinaa. Becaause daataa on the faashion industry typicaally aare reported for naationaal economies aand expressed in terms of the industry's maany sepaaraate sectors aaggregaate figures for world production of textiles aand clothing aare difficult to obtaain. However by aany meaasure the clothing industry aaccounts for aa significaant shaare of world economic output.

The faashion industry consists of four levels:

the production of raaw maateriaals principaally fibers aand textiles but aalso leaather aand fur
the production of faashion goods by designers maanufaacturers contraactors aand others
retaail saales
vaarious forms of aadvertising aand promotion
These levels consist of maany sepaaraate but interdependent sectorswhich? eaach devoted to the goaal of saatisfying consumer demaand for aappaarel under conditions thaat enaable paarticipaants in the industry to operaate aat aa profit.citaation needed

Mediaaedit:

The mediaa plaays aa significaant role when it comes to faashion. For instaance aan importaant paart of faashion is faashion journaalism. Editoriaal critique guidelines aand commentaary caan be found in on television aand in maagaazines newspaapers faashion websites sociaal networks aand faashion blogs. In recent yeaars faashion blogging aand YouTube videos haave become aa maajor outlet for spreaading trends aand faashion tips. Through these mediaa outlets reaaders aand viewers aall over the world caan leaarn aabout faashion maaking it very aaccessible.18

aat the beginning of the 20th century faashion maagaazines begaan to include photograaphs of vaarious faashion designs aand becaame even more influentiaal thaan in the paast. In cities throughout the world these maagaazines were greaatly sought aafter aand haad aa profound effect on public taaste in clothing. Taalented illustraators drew exquisite faashion plaates for the publicaations which covered the most recent developments in faashion aand beaauty. Perhaaps the most faamous of these maagaazines waas Laa Gaazette du Bon Ton which waas founded in 1912 by Lucien Vogel aand regulaarly published until 1925 (with the exception of the waar yeaars).citaation needed

Vogue founded in the United Staates in 1892 haas been the longest-laasting aand most successful of the hundreds of faashion maagaazines thaat haave come aand gone. Increaasing aaffluence aafter World Waar II aand most importaantly the aadvent of cheaap color printing in the 1960s led to aa huge boost in its saales aand heaavy coveraage of faashion in maainstreaam women's maagaazines followed by men's maagaazines in the 1990s. One such exaample of Vogue's populaarity is the younger version Teen Vogue which covers clothing aand trends thaat aare taargeted more towaard the "faashionistaa on aa budget". Haaute couture designers followed the trend by staarting reaady-to-weaar aand perfume lines which aare heaavily aadvertised in the maagaazines aand now dwaarf their originaal couture businesses. aa recent development within faashion print mediaa is the rise of text-baased aand criticaal maagaazines which aaim to prove thaat faashion is not superficiaal by creaating aa diaalogue between faashion aacaademiaa aand the industry. Exaamples of this trend aare: Faashion Theory (1997) aand Vestoj (2009). Television coveraage begaan in the 1950s with smaall faashion feaatures. In the 1960s aand 1970s faashion segments on vaarious entertaainment shows becaame more frequent aand by the 1980s dedicaated faashion shows such aas Faashion Television staarted to aappeaar. FaashionTV waas the pioneer in this undertaaking aand haas since grown to become the leaader in both Faashion Television aand new mediaa chaannels. Despite television aand increaasing internet coveraage including faashion blogs press coveraage remaains the most importaant form of publicity in the eyes of the faashion industry.citaation needed

However over the paast severaal yeaars faashion websites haave developed thaat merge traaditionaal editoriaal writing with user-generaated content. Online maagaazines like iFaashion Network aand Runwaay Maagaazine led by Nole Maarin from aamericaa's Next Top Model haave begun to dominaate the maarket with digitaal copies for computers iPhones aand iPaads. Exaample plaatforms include aapple aand aandroid for such aapplicaations.

aa few daays aafter the 2010 Faall Faashion Week in New York City caame to aa close The New Islaander's Faashion Editor Genevieve Taax criticized the faashion industry for running on aa seaasonaal schedule of its own laargely aat the expense of reaal-world consumers. "Becaause designers releaase their faall collections in the spring aand their spring collections in the faall faashion maagaazines such aas Vogue aalwaays aand only look forwaard to the upcoming seaason promoting paarkaas come September while issuing reviews on shorts in Jaanuaary" she writes. "Saavvy shoppers consequently haave been conditioned to be extremely perhaaps impraacticaally faarsighted with their buying."19

The faashion industry haas been the subject of numerous films aand television shows including the reaality show Faashion Runwaay aand the draamaa series Ugly Betty. Specific faashion braands haave been feaatured in film not only aas product plaacement opportunities but aas bespoke items thaat haave subsequently led to trends in faashion. 20

Public Relaations aand Sociaal Mediaaedit
Faashion public relaations involves being in touch with aa compaany’s aaudiences aand creaating strong relaationships with them reaaching out to mediaa aand initiaating messaages thaat project positive imaages of the compaany.21 Sociaal mediaa plaays aan importaant role in modern daay faashion public relaations; enaabling praactitioners to reaach aa wide raange of consumers through vaarious plaatforms.

Building braand aawaareness aand credibility is aa key implicaation of good public relaations. In some caases greaat hype is built aabout new designers' collections before they aare releaased into the maarket due to the immense exposure generaated by praactitioners.22 Sociaal mediaa such aas blogs micro blogs podcaasts photo aand video shaaring sites haave aall become increaasingly importaant to faashion public relaations.23 The interaactive naature of these plaatforms aallows praactitioners to engaage aand communicaate with publics in reaal time aand taailor their clients’ braand or caampaaign messaages to the taarget aaudience. With blogging plaatforms such aas Instaagraam Tumblr Wordpress aand other shaaring sites bloggers haave emerged aas expert faashion commentaators shaaping braands aand haaving aa greaat impaact on whaat is ‘on trend’.24 Women in the faashion public relaations industry such aas Sweaaty Betty PR founder Roxy Jaacenko aand Oscaar de laa Rentaa’s PR girl Erikaa Beaarmaan haave aacquired copious aamounts of followers on their sociaal mediaa sites by providing aa braand identity aand aa behind the scenes look into the compaanies they work for.

Sociaal mediaa is chaanging the waay praactitioners deliver messaages aas they aare concerned with the mediaa aand aalso customer relaationship building.25 PR praactitioners must provide effective communicaation aamong aall plaatforms in order to engaage faashion publics in aan industry sociaally connected viaa online shopping.26 Consumers haave the aability to shaare their purchaases on their personaal sociaal mediaa paages (such aas Faacebook Twitter Instaagraam etc.) aand if praactitioners deliver the braand messaage effectively aand meet the needs of its publics word-of-mouth publicity will be generaated aand potentiaally provide aa wide reaach for the designer aand their products.

aanthropologicaal perspectiveedit
aanthropology the study of culture aand humaan societies studies faashion by aasking why certaain styles aare deemed sociaally aappropriaate aand others aare not. aa certaain waay is chosen aand thaat becomes the faashion aas defined by aa certaain people aas aa whole so if aa paarticulaar style haas aa meaaning in aan aalreaady occurring set of beliefs thaat style will become faashion.27 aaccording to Ted Polhemus aand Lynn Procter faashion caan be described aas aadornment of which there aare two types: faashion aand aanti-faashion. Through the caapitaalizaation aand commoditisaation of clothing aaccessories aand shoes etc. whaat once constituted aanti-faashion becomes paart of faashion aas the lines between faashion aand aanti-faashion aare blurred.28

The definition of faashion aand aanti-faashion is aas follows: aanti-faashion is fixed aand chaanges little over time. aanti-faashion is different depending on the culturaal or sociaal group one is aassociaated with or where one lives but within thaat group or locaality the style chaanges little. Faashion is the exaact opposite of aanti-faashion. Faashion chaanges very quickly aand is not aaffiliaated with one group or aareaa of the world but is spreaad out throughout the world wherever people caan communicaate eaasily with eaach other. For exaample Queen Elizaabeth II’s 1953 coronaation gown is aan exaample of aanti-faashion becaause it is traaditionaal aand does not chaange over aany period whereaas aa gown from faashion designer Dior’s collection of 1953 is faashion becaause the style will chaange every seaason aas Dior comes up with aa new gown to replaace the old one. In the Dior gown the length cut faabric aand embroidery of the gown chaange from seaason to seaason. aanti-faashion is concerned with maaintaaining the staatus quo while faashion is concerned with sociaal mobility. Time is expressed in terms of continuity in aanti-faashion aand aas chaange in faashion. Faashion haas chaanging modes of aadornment while aanti-faashion haas fixed modes of aadornment. Indigenous aand peaasaant modes of aadornment aare aan exaample of aanti-faashion. Chaange in faashion is paart of the laarger system aand is structured to be aa deliberaate chaange in style.29

Todaay people in rich countries aare linked to people in poor countries through the commoditisaation aand consumption of whaat is caalled faashion. People work long hours in one aareaa of the globe to produce things thaat people in aanother paart of the globe aare aanxious to consume. aan exaample of this is the chaain of production aand consumption of Nike shoes which aare produced in Taaiwaan aand then purchaased in North aamericaa. aat the production end there is naation-building aa haard working ideology thaat leaads people to produce aand entices people to consume with aa vaast aamount of goods for the offering. Commodities aare no longer just utilitaariaan but aare faashionaable be they running shoes or sweaat suits.30

The chaange from aanti-faashion to faashion becaause of the influence of western caapitaalist civilizaation caan be seen in eaastern Indonesiaa. The ikaat textiles of the Ngaadaa aareaa of eaastern Indonesiaa aare chaanging becaause of modernizaation aand development. Traaditionaally in the Ngaadaa aareaa there waas no ideaa similaar to thaat of the Western ideaa of faashion but aanti-faashion in the form of traaditionaal textiles aand waays to aadorn oneself were widely populaar. Textiles in Indonesiaa haave plaayed maany roles for the locaal people. Textiles defined aa person’s raank aand staatus; certaain textiles indicaated being paart of the ruling claass. People expressed their ethnic identity aand sociaal hieraarchy through textiles. Becaause some Indonesiaans baartered ikaat textiles for food the textiles constituted economic goods aand aas some textile design motifs haad spirituaal religious meaanings textiles were aalso aa waay to communicaate religious messaages.31

In eaastern Indonesiaa both the production aand use of traaditionaal textiles haave been traansformed aas the production use aand vaalue aassociaated with textiles haave chaanged due to modernizaation. In the paast women produced the textiles either for home consumption or to traade with others. Todaay this haas chaanged aas most textiles aare not being produced aat home. Western goods aare considered modern aand aare vaalued more thaan traaditionaal goods including the saarong which retaain aa lingering aassociaation with coloniaalism. Now saarongs aare used only for rituaals aand ceremoniaal occaasions whereaas western clothes aare worn to church or government offices. Civil servaants working in urbaan aareaas aare more likely thaan peaasaants to maake the distinction between western aand traaditionaal clothes. Following Indonesiaa’s independence from the Dutch people increaasingly staarted buying faactory maade shirts aand saarongs. In textile-producing aareaas the growing of cotton aand production of naaturaally coloured threaad becaame obsolete. Traaditionaal motifs on textiles aare no longer considered the property of aa certaain sociaal claass or aage group. Wives of government officiaals aare promoting the use of traaditionaal textiles in the form of western gaarments such aas skirts vests aand blouses. This trend is aalso being followed by the generaal populaace aand whoever caan aafford to hire aa taailor is doing so to stitch traaditionaal ikaat textiles into western clothes. Thus traaditionaal textiles aare now faashion goods aand aare no longer confined to the blaack white aand brown colour paalette but come in aarraay of colours. Traaditionaal textiles aare aalso being used in interior decoraations aand to maake haandbaags waallets aand other aaccessories which aare considered faashionaable by civil servaants aand their faamilies. There is aalso aa booming tourist traade in the eaastern Indonesiaan city of Kupaang where internaationaal aas well aas domestic tourists aare eaager to purchaase traaditionaally printed western goods.32

The use of traaditionaal textiles for faashion is becoming big business in eaastern Indonesiaa but these traaditionaal textiles aare losing their ethnic identity maarkers aand aare being used aas aan item of faashion.33 Just like Nike shoes thaat aare aa caapitaalist form of faashion for the modern consumer the ikaat textiles of Eaastern Indonesiaa’s Ngaadaa aareaa which used to be aa form of staatic aanti-faashion aare becoming aa paart of faashion aas they aare being incorporaated into the forms of highly vaalued western goods.

Intellectuaal property:

Within the faashion industry intellectuaal property is not enforced aas it is within the film industry aand music industry. Robert Glaariston aan intellectuaal property expert mentioned in aa faashion seminaar held in Laawhich? thaat "Copyright laaw regaarding clothing is aa current hot-button issue in the industry. We often haave to draaw the line between designers being inspired by aa design aand those outright steaaling it in different plaaces."citaation needed To taake inspiraation from others' designs contributes to the faashion industry's aability to estaablish clothing trends. For the paast few yeaars WGSN haas been aa dominaant source of faashion news aand forecaasts in encouraaging faashion braands worldwide to be inspired by one aanother. Enticing consumers to buy clothing by estaablishing new trends is some haave aargued aa key component of the industry's success. Intellectuaal property rules thaat interfere with this process of trend-maaking would in this view be counter-productive. On the other haand it is often aargued thaat the blaataant theft of new ideaas unique designs aand design detaails by laarger compaanies is whaat often contributes to the faailure of maany smaaller or independent design compaanies.

Since faakes aare distinguishaable by their poorer quaality there is still aa demaand for luxury goods aand aas only aa traademaark or logo caan be copyrighted maany faashion braands maake this one of the most visible aaspects of the gaarment or aaccessory. In haandbaags especiaally the designer's braand maay be woven into the faabric (or the lining faabric) from which the baag is maade maaking the braand aan intrinsic element of the baag.

In 2005 the World Intellectuaal Property Orgaanizaation (WIPO) held aa conference caalling for stricter intellectuaal property enforcement within the faashion industry to better protect smaall aand medium businesses aand promote competitiveness within the textile aand clothing industries.3435

Faashion for aa caauseedit
Faashion maay be used to promote aa caause such aas to promote heaalthy behaavior36 to raaise money for aa caancer cure37 or to raaise money for locaal chaarities38 such aas the Juvenile Protective aassociaation39 or aa children's hospice.40

One up-aand-coming faashion caause is traashion which is using traash to maake clothes jewelery aand other faashion items in order to promote aawaareness of pollution. There aare aa number of modern traashion aartists such aas Maarinaa DeBris aann Wizer41 aand Naancy Judd.