Theorizing Fashion No.1

Theorizing Fashion No.1

Carlos Eduardo Thompson

The role of the veil in the definition of contemporary Muslim identities; the representation of women in fashion magazines; the cultural history of men’s underwear; the rise of fashion blogs; the origins of catwalk shows and their participation in the definition of modernity; the creative economy and globalized circulation of African fashion: these are a few only of the topics the growing academic literature on fashion has covered. Common to all the texts is the desire to make sense of fashion, to unpack, comprehend and analyses the social and cultural dynamics of fashion, dress and appearance. Indeed, the field of fashion has now become a major topic of enquiry in social and cultural theory, with many analyses devoted to an understanding of this complex arena. Numerous enlightening interrogations of its many layers have shown that fashion offers a rich platform from which to reflect on key social and cultural issues, from practices of consumption and production through to identity politics.