When Clothes Become Fashion

Ingrid Loschek was, until her death in 2010, Professor in the history and theory of fashion at the University of Applied Sciences, Pforzheim. She was a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University and Guest Professor at Universities in Tokyo and Cairo.

When, how and why do clothes become fashion? Fashion is more than mere clothing. It is a moment of invention, a distillation of desire, a reflection of a zeitgeist. It is also a business relying on an intricate network of manufacture, marketing and retail. Fashion is both medium and message but it does not explain itself. It requires language and images for its global mediation. It develops from the prescience of the designer and is dependent on acceptance by observers and wearers alike. When Clothes Become Fashion explores the structures and strategies which underlie fashion innovation, how fashion is perceived and the point at which clothing is accepted or rejected as fashion. The book provides a clear theoretical framework for understanding the world of fashion - its aesthetic premises, plurality of styles, performative impulses, social qualities and economic conditions.

Also available in hardback, 9781847883674 GBP50.00 (August, 2009)

Introduction Part I: FASHION THEORY 1. Does Fashion Need a Theory? 2. Textiles as Material 3. Clothes as Form 4. Fashion as System Part II: INVENTION AND INNOVATION 5. When is Invention? 6. When is Creativity? Part III: WHEN CLOTHES BECOME FASHION 7. When is Fashion? 8. When is Fashion Art? 9. When is Fashion Design? Notes Bibliography Index