This book provides a concise and much-needed introduction to the sociology of fashion. Most studies of fashion do not make a clear distinction between clothing and fashion. Kawamura argues that clothing is a tangible material product whereas fashion is a symbolic cultural product. She debunks the myth of the genius designer and explains, provocatively, that fashion is not about clothes but is a belief. There is an institutional structure, ignored by many fashion theorists, that has shaped and produced the fashion phenomenon. Kawamura further shows how the structural nature of the fashion system works to legitimize designers creativity and can make them successful. Newer fashion cities, such as Milan and New York, are the product of the fashion system that originated in Paris. Without that systemic structure, fashion culture would not exist. Fashion-ology provides a big picture approach that focuses on the social process behind fashion and its perpetuation.
- ISBN10 1859738095
- ISBN13 9781859738092
- Publish Date 1 December 2004
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 10 March 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Imprint Berg Publishers
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 136
- Language English