Philosophical Perspectives on Fashion

Considering the mutual relationships between aesthetics, modern society and culture, fashion and the fine arts, and the way these relationships have influenced and shaped our views on identity and taste, the contributions collected in this book explore the various intellectual and cultural movements that inform how people dress. The fashion and philosophy scholars contributing to this volume refer to and apply theories posed by key thinkers of the modern and contemporary age, from Darwin and Wittgenstein to Goodman and Barthes, from Simmel and Husserl to Danto and Baudrillard, in order to answer such questions as:“What is the essence of fashion and what are the reasons behind its fascination?”; “What is anti-fashion?”; “What or who do we imitate when we ‘follow’ fashion?”; “What is fashion criticism and what should it be?”; “Can philosophy remain unconcerned to fashion or can fashion lead philosophy to rethink itself?” To the extent that the book succeeds in contributing to the clarification and disentanglement of such major questions concerning fashion, it will lead to a better and indeed new understanding of the matter at issue, open new theoretical horizons, and thus make significant advancements within this field.