Fashion Zeitgeist Trends and Cycles in the Fashion System

by Vinken, Barbara; Hewson, Mark

• ISBN13: 9781845200442
• ISBN10: 1845200446
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-01-15
• Publisher: Berg Pub Ltd

Summary

Although it is appealing to think that fashion turns away from conventions, is this really the case? Or are "pioneering" designs simply part of a cyclical revival of forgotten fashions? Looking at some of the most influential designers of the twentieth century-from Yamamoto to Gaultier to Lagerfeld-Vinken considers the politics and philosophies that have been the driving force directing their sense of style. Vinken shows how fashion trends are informed by the past. Chanel, under the direction of Karl Lagerfeld, is viewed as the only fashion house to have remained fresh after one hundred years, yet is this success essentially proof of the self-referential qualities fashion has adopted? What inspired the fetish for labels at the end of the twentieth century? Answering these questions and many more, this thought-provoking book shows how beauty, gender, sexuality, commerce, and dandyism have persisted in defining the fashion system.

Author Biography

Barbara Vinken is Professor of French Literature, University of Zurich.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	vii
Part I Postfashion
Chapter 1 What Fashion Strictly Divided	3	(38)
Chapter 2 Adorned in Zeitgeist	41	(20)
Chapter 3 High and Low: The End of a Century of Fashion	61	(20)
Part II Eight Types of Postfashion
Chapter 4 Lagerfeld for Chanel: The Griffe	81	(8)
Chapter 5 Montana, Mugler: Myth	89	(2)
Chapter 6 Dolce & Gabbana: Deep South	91	(8)
Chapter 7 Comme des Garcons: Ex Oriente Lux	99	(10)
Chapter 8 Yohji Yamamoto: The Secret Sewn in	109	(10)
Chapter 9 Gaultier: Revaluation of All Values	119	(8)
Chapter 10 Helmut Lang: Fabric, Skin, Figure	127	(12)
Chapter 11 Martin Margiela: Signs of Time	139	(14)
Select Bibliography	153	(6)
Index	159