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- Volume 7, Issue 1, 2020
International Journal of Fashion Studies - Volume 7, Issue 1, 2020
Volume 7, Issue 1, 2020
- Articles
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Marketing lifestyles: The ready-to-wear industry and the genesis of the consumer in the United States (1880–1930)
By Cesare SillaThis article aims to make a specific contribution to the field of fashion studies through a discussion of the role of marketing in the emergence of consumer capitalism in the United States between 1880 and 1930. Specifically, the orientation of American business towards marketing and its impact on the growth of the ready-to-wear industry after the First World War are presented and discussed. This new orientation is attributed to the emergence of a new ‘consumer culture’ related to the ‘democratization’ of fashion, which actively contributed towards shaping an appropriate type of subjectivity: the fashion-conscious consumer. Rather than discussing whether marketing forged new or responded to already existing fashion trends, this article employs a genealogical approach and focuses on the process of co-emergence: under what conditions and through what kind of forces did separate developments in fashion and marketing eventually join to meet the needs of a new form of subjectivity-in-the-making?
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New vintage – new history? The sukajan (souvenir jacket) and its fashionable reproduction
More LessThis article traces the sukajan’s journey from military souvenir to fashion statement. Originally embroidered by the Japanese for American soldiers in Occupied Japan, the sukajan, or souvenir jacket, went on to commemorate further tours of duty, including the Vietnam War. In the second half of the twentieth century, it was worn as an act of defiance by members of subcultures both inside and outside Japan, developing connotations of rebellion. Its visibility in media culture further popularized this garment. The sukajan’s historic associations with military conflict and subculture style, as well as identification with Japanese craftsmanship, made it ideally suited for new vintage production, a growing trend in the fashion industry. The design, branding and marketing of new vintage sukajan drew on these associations to add gravitas to this mass-manufactured garment. Despite its ubiquity, it has received little critical investigation. This article brings the history of this neglected garment to light, and also contributes to debates around the commodification of youth subculture style and military chic. Through an examination of the materiality of the sukajan as it moves between cultures, through time and across space, it further demonstrates how such a study can disrupt the Eurocentrism that continues to plague fashion studies and can contribute to an enriched discussion of imitation, transformation and identity in moving between the global and local. Finally, this article asks: what are the implications of co-opting a garment originating in the brutal militaristic struggles between nations and cultures, sanitizing this history and selling it as fashion?
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The meaning of fashion: A qualitative study with students in Romania
By Laura NistorThis article discusses the results of a focus-group-based qualitative study that was conducted with the students of two universities in Romania, with the aim to reveal their discourses regarding the meaning of fashion. The findings suggest that students define fashion through a complex semantic triangle of three inter-related concepts: fashion – style – being well-dressed. In this tripartite model, fashion receives mostly negative connotations compared with style, which is defined as a micro-level, personal take on fashion, i.e. it has agency, whereas fashion is defined as being at the macro-level and is accused of enforcing normativity and homogeneity. The meaning of being well-dressed refers mostly to dress codes and to the wearing of clothes that symbolize and signal social status, rather than to fashionable clothes. With such findings, it is possible to claim that the interviewees are ‘soft challengers’ of fashion: they are revolting against the normativity of fashion and seek to emphasize their agency when they put together an outfit. However, as much as possible, they try to respect the normative expectations of situational dress codes. When the three concepts were considered separately by the interviewees, each revealed several sub-dimensions/themes.
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Scottish fashion influencers: Constructing a style identity on Instagram
More LessThis article builds on existing theories of self-presentation and self-identity through a study into the behaviour of fashion influencers who position themselves as Scottish on Instagram. Fourteen interviews were carried out with Scottish fashion influencers who were asked to reflect on their online identity. The interaction between the offline and online self is explored, where national identity and a sense of place are recognized as important attributes of self-identity in an offline setting and participants were sampled on the basis that they were projecting this as a key component of their online self. All were found to be seeking to convey an ideal identity on Instagram; this involved curating particular aspects of their offline style and showcasing these online. The issue of authenticity was complex, and a spectrum of identity evolution on Instagram is observed and reflected on. The most career-minded participants tended to portray themselves in a more one-sided manner and were most strongly influenced by a sense of their audience. In contrast, the participants who were less career-minded tended to explore more freely with their online self and were influenced most strongly by internal factors.
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- Open Space
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- Book Reviews
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Fashion Film: Art and Advertising in the Digital Age, Nick Rees-Roberts (2018)
More LessReview of: Fashion Film: Art and Advertising in the Digital Age, Nick Rees-Roberts (2018)
London: Bloomsbury, 206 pp.,
ISBN 978-0-8578-5666-1, h/bk, $105
ISBN 978-0-8578-5700-2, p/bk, $34.99
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Veiling in Fashion: Space and the Hijab in Minority Communities, Anna-Mari Almila (2019)
More LessReview of: Veiling in Fashion: Space and the Hijab in Minority Communities, Anna-Mari Almila (2019)
London: I.B. Tauris, 243 pp.,
ISBN 978-1-78453-923-8, h/bk, £91.80
eISBN 978-1-78831-577-7, eBook, £73.44
ePDF 978-1-78831-576-0, PDF, £73.44
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‘Le plus beau métier du monde’: Dans les coulisses de l’industrie de la mode, Giulia Mensitieri (2018)
By Kévin FlammeReview of: ‘Le plus beau métier du monde’: Dans les coulisses de l’industrie de la mode, Giulia Mensitieri (2018)
Paris: La Découverte, 350 pp.
ISBN 978-2-70719-540-1, p/bk, €22.00
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