Time in Fashion: Industrial, Antilinear and Uchronic Temporalities

Description

Few phenomena embody the notion of time as well as fashion. Fast-moving and rooted in the 'now', it's constantly creating its own past through the process of rapid style change. Uniquely poised between the past and the future, fashion's relationship with time is unorthodox. Rather than considering time in the conventional sense, this anthology explores three alternative ways to think about fashion and time: the first identifies the seasonal nature of fashion as an industry, and shows how this has impacted on workers and wearers alike. The second looks at fashion design as a ceaseless process of adaptation, reconstruction and recombination of motifs, in which nostalgia and revivals play their part. The third construes fashion's 'imaginary', with its capacity for fantasy and myth-making, as a form of alternate history that asks 'what if?' Within this framework, key classic texts are juxtaposed with lesser known ones, in an interdisciplinary approach that includes philosophy, history, literature, media and fashion design, ranging from the 18th century to the present. It will be of interest to anyone wishing to understand one of the most complex yet inescapable aspects of fashion, its relationship to time, and will be a critical resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the humanities and all those interested in fashion in all its creative, commercial and cultural aspects.

Caroline Evans is Professor Emerita of Fashion History and Theory at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, UK. Alessandra Vaccari is Associate Professor of Fashion History and Theory at Universita Iuav di Venezia, Italy.

Evans and Vaccari's commitment to brevity and specificity is this greatest asset. Time In Fashion includes so many angles and writers and perspectives that any reader, whether seasoned in the field or not, will come away with myriad more questions about the field of dress history. This book will have given them multiple starting points from which to begin their inquiries and will serve any reader as a useful catalyst for their curiosity. * The Journal of Dress History * An astute and generous contribution to the field, this thoughtful and highly readable collection promises to generate much exciting work around fashion's chronologies in the years to come. * Christopher Breward, Director, National Museums Scotland, UK * A fascinating anthology that will inspire both fashion creatives and fashion scholars. * Valerie Steele, Director, Museum at FIT, New York, USA * In this ground-breaking study, Evans and Vaccari open a new era in our understanding of the subject with a forensic analysis of its complexities in their introduction, backed up by a dazzling range of essays and extracts from past and contemporary writers. * Elizabeth Wilson, author of Adorned in Dreams * Offering invaluable insights into fashion's complex relationship to time, the diversity and quality of the contributions make this anthology a gratifying read and an essential reference for anyone seeking deeper understanding of fashion. * Hazel Clark, Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York, USA *