Description
Book SynopsisFor any market to work properly, certain key elements are necessary: competition, pricing, rules, clearly defined offers, and easy access to information. Without these components, there would be chaos. This book examines how order is maintained in the different interconnected consumer, producer, and credit markets of the global fashion industry.
Trade Review"I do hope that economists read this book and realize the potential that such descriptive analysis holds."--Nick Krafft, Open Economics "Aspers enlightens readers about the intricacies of the workings of the global fashion market. He has accomplished what he set out to do, to bring together economic, sociological, and fashion theory."--Wanda K. Cheek, Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences "[T]his is a very stimulating, well researched and well-written book, which deserves to be read by those interested in fashion, economic sociology and/or sociology in general."--David Dequech, European Economic Sociology Newsletter
Table of ContentsPreface ix Introduction 1 The Aims of the Book 4 Order 5 Outline of the Book 9 Chapter 1: Garment Sellers in Consumer Markets 11 Identity 12 Market Differentiation 13 Types of Sellers 19 Competition and Cooperation 26 Splitting and Fusing Markets 31 Summary 33 Chapter 2: Affordable Fashion 34 Identities of Branded Garment Retailers 35 Retailers' Customers 40 Consumption and Identity 43 Price and Garments 46 Fashion 49 Fashion and Power 54 Identity Management 55 The Culture of the Market 57 Status Order 58 Summary 60 Chapter 3: Entrenching Identities 62 Performance Control 63 Relations of Identities 89 Summary 91 Chapter 4: Branded Garment Retailers in the Production Market 94 Design and Fashion 95 Finding Manufacturers 102 Competition among Retailers 112 The Product 117 Retailers' Identities 123 Summary 123 Chapter 5: Manufacturing Garments in the Global Market 125 The Industry from the Perspective of the Manufacturers 126 The Production Process 131 Identity Differentiation and Strategies 136 Price and Global Competition 138 The Market Culture 142 Order Out of Standard 144 Summary 145 Chapter 6: Branded Garment Retailers in the Investment Market 147 Approaching Financial Markets 148 Retailers' Identities in Investor Markets 149 The Stock Market and Its Value 150 Trading Fashion Stocks 155 Evaluation of Stocks 156 Economic Evaluation 158 Summary 162 Chapter 7: Markets as Partial Orders 165 Discussion of the Study 165 Partial Orders 171 Appendix I: Empirical Material and Methods 175 Appendix II: Garment Trade Statistics 181 Appendix III: The Garment Industry 185 Appendix IV: Economic Sociology 191 Appendix V: Fashion Theory and Research 195 Notes 201 References 213 Index 235
