Fashion

This book provided an original account of the phenomenon of western fashion in the period of late modernity that through its focus, structure and argument offered a more nuanced interpretation of the development and significance of fashionable style than had been possible in the author’s previous fashion history ‘The Culture of Fashion’.

Whereas the previous text had focused on a linear chronology of change borrowed from the social history of consumption, ‘Fashion’ returned to the problem of design and the nature of fashion as a complex system that hinges on a simultaneous consideration of production, promotion and practice. Its content combined historiographical analysis of the ways in which fashion has previously been understood (particularly via the figure of the designer), with a close reading of appropriate case-studies through a progression of thematic chapters designed to encourage further debate.

The research and writing of the book were heavily influenced by the professional location of the author in an art and design college and the need for fashion design students to understand the key intellectual, theoretical and historical underpinnings of their discipline. These needs have too often been overlooked by standard texts on fashion produced in the fields of art history, sociology and cultural studies and it is in this respect that ‘Fashion’ makes its most important contribution to knowledge.

Introduction
1: The Rise of the Designer
2: Making Clothes
3: Innovating Change
2: Disseminating Desire
5: Fashion on the Page
6: Fashion and Film
7: Shopping for Style
3: Style and Modernity
9: Fashion Capitals
10: Fashion and Identity

The Oxford History of Art is a major series of authoritative and beautifully illustrated books by art historians. The last thirty years have witnessed a profound change in the study of art. While artists have employed startling new techniques to test old assumptions, a new generation of scholars has rejected formal approaches to breathe fresh life into the field of art criticism. Substantial and innovative, the books illuminate and debate the critical issues at the heart of art history today.