19 takes on Fashion: a new IFM collective publication

Why has sartorial appearance become a symbolic issue for society? How have artisanal fashion houses turned into empires? What tools do brands use to influence the tastes and behaviors of their customers? How can we think more broadly about the concept of fashion, beyond the borders of Western societies and Europe? What are the current mutations of a now global and widely digitalized market? Are fashion and feminism contradictory? Under what conditions can fashion undergo a sustainable transformation?

These are some of the questions addressed in the new collective publication of Institut Français de la Mode, which brings together 19 contributions from IFM professors and young researchers.

The book embraces the different perspectives of humanities and social sciences, economics, marketing, art history and philosophy, to shed light on these multidimensional objects that are fashion and clothing. Particular attention is placed on the major contemporary changes, the evolution of creation, images and discourse, craft and trade, economic transformations and diversification of markets.

It also looks at the way in which some major events are helping to reshape the current landscape of fashion and its place in society: the urgent question of sustainable development, technological acceleration and the omnipresence of digital technology, but also a pandemic that has helped to highlight underlying issues and reconsider some precepts.

The book is available in French and in English in all major bookstores in France and online.