The Routledge Companion to Fashion Studies (Routledge Media and Cultural Studies Companions)

This collection of original essays interrogates disciplinary boundaries in fashion, gathering fashion studies research across disciplines and from around the globe. Fashion and clothing are part of material and visual culture, cultural memory, and heritage; they contribute to shaping the way people see themselves, interact, and consume. For each of the volume’s eight parts, scholars from across the world and a variety of disciplines offer analytical tools for further research. Never neglecting the interconnectedness of disciplines and domains, these original contributions survey specific topics and critically discuss the leading views in their areas. They include discursive and reflective pieces, as well as discussions of original empirical work, and contributors include established leaders in the field, rising stars, and new voices, including practioner and industry voices. This is a comprehensive overview of the field, ideal not only for undergraduate and postgraduate fashion studies students, but also for researchers and students in communication studies, the humanities, gender and critical race studies, social sciences, and fashion design and business. Review "An original and intriguing set of essays from a range of contributors who, across the eight sections of the book, employ diverse scholarly lenses to examine fashion’s theories, histories, practices, embodiment, places, media, and futures. The chapters reinforce that fashion is active, it is a representative and shaper of cultures, not merely the product of an industry. The volume demonstrates how fashion demands to be studied, how it sheds light on who we are and who we can aspire to be. This book adds new dimensions to what we know and how we think about fashion." Hazel Clark, Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York, USA "Compiling an anthology is like putting together a menu: you have to cater to a wide range of tastes, look to both tradition and the future, and do the best with what is available. At best it must be lively, innovative, and convincing. On all counts, this is a stand-out 3 Michelin-star compilation. As the editors aver, 'fashion is culture in all its plural and diverse manifestations.' The essays in the volume keep this assertion alive while asserting new ground. You will leave wholly satisfied, but with the intention of returning to it, again and again." Adam Geczy, The University of Sydney, Australia "This exciting collection offers both breadth and depth in terms of its analysis of fashion. The editors have brought together a wide range of disciplines and approaches to fashion that emphasizes its significance as culture in the very broadest sense, as aesthetic discourse and practice, industry and technology, communication and meaning. The main introduction and section introductions frame the issues very well and orientate the reader as to the contributions of individual authors and papers. This Companion makes a valuable contribution to fashion studies." Joanne Entwistle, Kings College London, UK About the Author Eugenia Paulicelli (Queens College and The Graduate Center, The City University of New York) is Professor of Italian, Comparative Literature and Women’s Studies, and Founder and Director of the Concentration in Fashion Studies at the Graduate Center. Among her books are Fashion under Fascism: Beyond the Black Shirt (2004); The Fabric of Cultures: Fashion, Identity, Globalization (co-editor, 2009); Writing Fashion in Early Modern Italy (2014); and Italian Style: Fashion & Film from Early Cinema to the Digital Age (2016). Veronica Manlow is an associate professor at Brooklyn College (The City University of New York) in the Koppelman School of Business in the Business Management Department. Her current research investigates luxury labor performed by artisans in ateliers and factories. She is also conducting research on luxury salespersons. Elizabeth Wissinger (Borough of Manhatta