Fashion

Abstract

As a sociological phenomenon par excellence, fashion has drawn the attention of prominent social theorists. A simple way to characterize fashion is “being first with the latest.” It is an inherently social and relational phenomenon not restricted to particular domains, although most research on fashion is concerned with dress. Fashion has been economically and socially salient since the Renaissance but its role has been amplified with the emergence of the mass market and product differentiation facilitated by mass production. Fashion is about change but not necessarily innovation, notably because of its cyclical nature – styles from the past get a new life. Fashion cannot be imposed; it emerges via a social process in which actors imitate one another and new fashions are diffused in society. Largely neglected until the mid‐1990s, in the twenty‐first century “fashion studies” have witnessed exciting developments, opening new avenues for research.