9 Questions
What is the definition of fashion?
What is haute couture?
What are the four major current fashion capitals?
What are the factors that influence fashion trends?
What is the circular economy?
What is trashion?
What is the role of intellectual property rights in the fashion industry?
What is trade dress?
What is the purpose of critical fashion magazines like Fashion Theory?
Summary
Fashion: A Brief History and Definition
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Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy in clothing, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture.
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Sustainability has become an urgent issue in the fashion industry due to the rise in mass production of commodities and clothing.
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The term fashion is defined in different ways and can connote both difference and sameness.
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Fashion is a distinctive and industry-supported expression traditionally tied to the fashion season and collections.
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Haute couture is more aspirational, inspired by art and culture, and is reserved for the economic elite.
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Fashion is unique, self-fulfilling, and may be a key part of someone's identity.
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Changes in clothing often took place at times of economic or social change throughout history.
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Early Western travelers who visited non-Western countries often remarked on the absence of change in fashion, but this is generally untrue.
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Fashion in West Africa has a long history, with locally produced cloth and imported European cloth being assembled into new styles.
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The start of Western fashion in clothing can be dated to the middle of the 14th century, with changes in fashion leading to a fragmentation across the upper classes of Europe.
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Although fashion can be feminine or masculine, additional trends are androgynous, and unisex dressing originated in the 1960s.
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The four major current fashion capitals are New York City, Paris, Milan, and London.Fashion: Influences, Trends, and Impact
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Asian fashion influences gained significant influence in local and global markets in the early- to mid-2000s.
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The fashion industry consists of textile design and production, fashion design and manufacturing, fashion retailing, marketing and merchandising, fashion shows, and media and marketing.
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Fashion trends are influenced by several factors, including cinema, celebrities, climate, creative explorations, innovations, designs, political, economic, social, and technological.
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Fashion is inherently a social phenomenon, and dissemination can take several forms, from top-down to bottom-up or transversally across cultures.
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The circular economy is increasingly scrutinized, with today's consumer being more mindful about consumption and looking for just enough and better, more durable options.
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Fashion companies have to do market research to understand consumers' needs and predict fashion trends.
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Consumption is driven not only by need, but also by the symbolic meaning for consumers.
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Political figures have played a central role in the development of fashion, and cultural upheavals have also had an impact on fashion trends.
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Wearable technology has become incorporated into fashion, and 3D printing technology has influenced designers.
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The media plays a significant role when it comes to fashion, with fashion journalism and advertising being important platforms.
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There are two subsets of print styling: editorial and lifestyle.
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Fashion magazines began to include photographs of various fashion designs and became even more influential than in the past, with Vogue being the most famous.The Fashion Industry: From Magazines to Social Media and Political Activism
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Vogue is the longest-lasting and most successful fashion magazine, with its popularity increasing after World War II and the advent of cheap color printing in the 1960s.
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Television coverage of fashion began in the 1950s, with dedicated shows such as Fashion Television appearing in the 1980s.
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Controversial advertisements in the fashion industry have been accused of racism and sexism, leading to boycotts and criticism from customers.
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Social media plays a crucial role in modern-day fashion public relations, allowing practitioners to engage and communicate with the public in real-time.
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Fashion intersects with politics and social hierarchies, with fashion activism being a form of explicit political stance.
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Anthropology examines fashion by asking why certain styles are deemed socially appropriate and others are not, with fashion and anti-fashion being polar opposites.
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Intellectual property in the fashion industry is not enforced like in the film and music industries, with designers often taking inspiration from others' designs to establish clothing trends.
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Haute couture designers have started ready-to-wear and perfume lines, which are heavily advertised in magazines and now dwarf their original couture businesses.
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Text-based and critical fashion magazines such as Fashion Theory aim to create a dialogue between fashion academia and the industry to prove that fashion is not superficial.
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Fashion designers and brands have traditionally kept themselves out of political conflicts, but there has been a movement towards taking more explicit positions across the political spectrum.
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Social media is changing the way practitioners deliver messages, as they are concerned with the media and customer relationship building.
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The sporting of various fashions has been seen as a form of fashion language, using a grammar of fashion to produce various fashion statements.
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Trashion, or using trash to make clothes, jewelry, and other fashion items, is a fashion cause used to promote awareness of pollution.Intellectual Property and Fashion: An Overview
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Intellectual property rights protect original creations of the mind, including designs, logos, and brand names.
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In the fashion industry, intellectual property rights are important for protecting designers' creations and preventing counterfeiting.
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Counterfeiting is a major issue in the fashion industry and can harm smaller, independent designers.
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Luxury brands often use trademarks and logos prominently on their products to distinguish them from fakes.
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The World Intellectual Property Organization has called for stricter enforcement of intellectual property rights in the fashion industry.
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Design patents can provide protection for new and unique designs.
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Copyright can protect original works of authorship, such as fabric designs or graphics.
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Trademarks can protect brand names, logos, and other distinctive signs.
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Trade dress can protect the overall visual appearance of a product or its packaging.
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Counterfeiting can result in lost profits and damage to a brand's reputation.
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Intellectual property rights are important for promoting innovation and creativity in the fashion industry.
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Stricter enforcement of intellectual property rights can benefit small and medium-sized businesses in the textile and clothing industries.
Description
Do you know your fashion history and the impact of trends on the industry? Take our fashion quiz to test your knowledge on the evolution of fashion, sustainability, influences, and intellectual property in the industry. From haute couture to trashion, discover the key concepts and trends that shaped fashion into what it is today. Perfect for fashion enthusiasts or anyone interested in the cultural and social significance of fashion.