The Power of Fashion

The Power of Fashion
Published by Lannoo Publishers
ISBN: 9058975118
Price: £29.50
Reviewed by Caroline Phipps Urch

It’s great to see a book on the sociology of fashion. These days it’s too easy to forget that fashion isn’t just about the latest trend or what a particular celebrity is wearing. This is the intelligent guide to fashion for those who see beyond the garments.

The book is split into categories and discusses fashion and history, fashion and society, fashion as a system of meaning, fashion as a performance art, fashion and globalisation, fashion and art and finally fashion theories.

Through a variety of contributors including Ted Polhemus, Dirk Lauwaert and Ulrich Lehmann, the book illustrates how fashion and clothing trends can reflect the economy and general feeling of a nation. It reiterates how it has been, and will continue to be, a useful resource for historians. On an individual level, it explores fashion as a way of expressing beliefs or feelings and how it can give a person an immediately recognisable identity. It also discusses fashion as an international industry and language, with the mention of fashion weeks around the world. The chapters bringing fashion and art together confirm that fashion is an art form. It is influenced by a variety of art forms as much as it influences other artists.

Each writer illustrates their points through fashion images and examples from designers including Yves Saint Laurent, Mary Quant, Vivienne Westwood, Hussein Chalayan and Issey Miyake. All help to give evidence supporting the theories that are presented.

This is not light reading but a book to delve into every now and again to remind yourself that fashion isn’t as frivolous as many think. It is an important aspect of society both socially and culturally and there is a lot meaning to be debated under all those layers of fabric.