Fashion in the 1980s: a time of revival

The Future of Fashion' questions the process of fashion-making beyond the simple allure of the catwalk and its designer clothes and accessories. In the 21st century, fashion is a global industry embracing modes of instant distribution that demand an ever-faster turn-over of styles and images linked to emerging fashion tastes. From London to Vienna, through to Russia and Turkey, stylists, forecasters, buyers, designers, post-production artists and editors mediate and manipulate the seasonal style shifts in relation to their local taste cultures. No longer can we consider fashion as a creative pursuit led by the creative genius of the lone fashion designer. Rather it is an increasingly complex cultural phenomenon involving an enormous range of cultural mediators. Fashion is both the fleeting moment of a 1980s retro-neon t-shirt and the enduring form of a bespoke suit.

Who’s steering the fashion industry anyway and where does our taste in fashion really come from? Why is yellow ‘in’ one month and out the next? And isn’t it too soon for a 1990s fashion revival?

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