exam Flashcards
fashion theory
Fashion is more than clothes→ it’s a dynamic complex system
What is the impact of fashion
Environmental stability→ pollution
● Social sustainability→ clothes connect us to people we don’t know
● Emotional sustainability
Fashion is a lens to understand the world with each theory being a new lens
what is our role in fashion
Agents of change
Suptuary Laws
would be sent to jail for dressing in a certain way
▪ 1500s
▫ Based on their class, they could only wear certain colours and fabrics
▫ Was enforced for women and men
● King: silks and purple
● Lower class men: wool and linen, brown, beige and yellow
▪ These codes of what we can and can’t wear are still enforced in ways today→ corporate
standards (suit and tie to work), black tie galas (gendered dress)→ if break these codes wont
go to jail but could face judgement, heteronormative expectations
Danella Meadows
Started to develop framework called systems thinking: an interconnected set of elements that are coherently
organized in a manner that achieves something and creates its own pattern of behaviour over time→ creating
a system and flow, all the systems work together to produce a new entity (in fashion, all of the different
elements work together to produce a line that alters some type of behaviour
● Ex: the human body: a system composed of elements or sub systems→ each aspect of the body works
together to keep us alive
Joanne Entwistle
The fashion system fuels change→ it is responsible for annual or seasonal change→ something new in the clothes we
were (whether it is silhouette, form)
The fashion system is dynamic→ each stage has multiple elements
Trickle Down Theory
Fashion ideas travel from the elite (with money) down to the general mass population→ based on this concept
of emulation
BubbleUp Theory
Fashion ideas don’t happen from the elite to the public, they happen with the general public and then move up
to the elite
● Individuals begin their own styles on the streets or in sub cultures and then the elite emulate them
● Happen on very democratic level
● Clothes take on new meaning→ clothes go from identity and difference to simply being a new trend and
interested in stylishness and newness
Trickle Across Theory:
Basically trickle down but sped up
● Because of the internet and social media, people are still following the elite (no matter how you define them)
but the travel time is happening so quickly that it is almost happening in a sideways motion
● They’re following leaders of the group or sub culture to set fashion trends and emulate them
Susan Scafidi Three S Test
Source: has the source culture been involved in the creation, production and/or
representation? Have they had any involvement in the creative process? Has the cultured
allowed you to use the design? Complicated to navigate who can give you that permission.
▫ Jeremy Scott x Adidas→ didn’t seek permission
▫ Can learn a lot if engage the source in the creative process
▪ Significance
▫ Is there religious or spiritual significance?
▫ Whats the cultural significance of the item?
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▫ Ex: victoria secret uses Aboriginal headdress→ has spiritual significance because
each feather represents a battle they were in and only specific people can wear it, and
its supposed to protect them in battle
▪ Similarity
▫ How similar is the appropriated element to the original?
● Ex: Urban Outfitters vs. Navajo Nation
▫ Are you directly copying? Or interpreting it in your own way
▪ Doesn’t address the questions of it also being systemic and sustainable?. It fails to solve the
systemic oppression and create a sustainable equal relationship between the source
community and designer. → fashion can actually help create sustainable relationships
Izzy Camilleri
accessible fashion
The Big Four
Paris, Milan, NYC and London`
Why is Paris the capitol
Home of Haute Couture
o See the pinnacle of fashion , the highest quality of fashion that are created specifically for individual
people
● Home to some of the most iconic fashion houses, the key luxury brands like Chanel, Dior and YSL
● Paris seen as the centre of fashion because the fashion system we see today was created there→ turned
dressmakers into fashion designers and validated fashion designers as artist and authority
Charles Worth
Seen as father of Haute Couture→ first haute couture designer, interesting because he is British
▪ Apprenticed in London before moving to Paris
▪ 1858: Establishes House of Worth in Paris, still exists today and it is the first haute couture
label
o Started to design in a way that no dress maker had done before→ it incorporated elements of historic
costumes but also paved the way for innovation that was never seen before→ combining historic
costume and new design elements, bring past and future together in his designs→ this practice wasn’t
seen before Worth came in
o Paid careful attention to fit, tailoring and craftsmanship
o Quality was paramount for him so made she he had highest quality in everything he created→
travelled the world for luxurious textiles and trimming
o Changed the role of the designer: before him it was primarily women who were dressmakers
▪ He established that design was a suitable profession for men
▪ Women’s clothing design was female dominated in the mid 19
th century
▪ Client’s voice in design was diminished
▪ Dressmaker became director of fashion changes
▪ Clients would come in and suggest ideas but he was known to disregard it and would create
whatever he imagined would look good on the client→ made the designer the director and the
creator, no longer the role of the customer, designer became dictator of fashion change
o Had an elite line that was all custom for the most wealthy client
o Had a second tier line for a wise, less wealthy clientele→ a diffusion line that was more mass
produced
o Started to realize that a part of fashion was marketing
▪ Created salons instead of the usual home visits
▪ His salon was part of his brand
▪ Created first Fashion show→ instead of runways, had fashion shows in the salon (women
who made the clothes for him modeled them)
▪ Had first form of PR, had the women from his shop who acted as model attend events to
showcase his designs (went to horse races)
Liis Windischmann
plus size designer
What Makes an Entrepreneur
● 1. Inspired by problems→ reframe problems as an opportunity for change, not a deterrent
● Motivation often comes from their own frustrations and as frustrated users or empathize with frustrated users
● 2.They develop a solution that dramatically breaks with existing ones→ they’re changing the system, not just
modifying it→ finding new way of approaching problem
● 3. They take direct action (don’t just say and talk about what they want to do) by creating and implementing
the new solution
● 4. Demonstrates courage throughout the process of innovation and implementation
o Throughout the set backs and challenges they need courage to believe in the relevance of their
ideas→ they persevere
3 types of Fashion Entrepreneur
- Creative Enterprise Orientation
o Kate and Laura Mulleavy
▪ Realize creative potential
o Their only goal is to be creative→ their dream is to realize their creative potential and be known
famously as a creative
o Want to become a known designer
o When talk about themselves they think of themselves as a creative person
● 2. Creative Business Orientation
o Work for oneself by doing something creative→ the creative part is almost secondary, the goal is
really to work for themselves
o Make a living by building a successful fashion business→ the business side is their focus
o When ask them to talk about their identity, describe themselves as a “creative businessperson”
o Imran Amed→ founder and editor in chief od he business of fashion
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● 3. Fashion Industry Orientation
o Just want to be engaged and participate in the fashion world→ want to be successful but not as a
designer or running their own business
o When asked to define their identity, they consider themselves a creative/style focused business person
o A lot of bloggers, like BryanBoy, are good examples→ didn’t want to start a big business commodity,
it’s a brand based on his
Anjli Patel
fashion lawyer and trademark agent
Stephanie→ sophomore magazine editor
Inspirational as opposed to aspirational→ instead of selling unattainable ideals (like body image and makeup),
wanted to deconstruct typically feminine symbols like pink and glitter
