Description
Book SynopsisWhat if fashion was a state? What kind of state would it be? Probably not a democracy. Otto von Busch sees fashion as a totalitarian state, with a population all too eager to enact the decrees of its aesthetic superiority. Peers police each other and deploy acts of judgment, peer-regulation, and micro-violence to uphold the aesthetic order of fashion supremacy. Using four design projects as tools for inquiry, Von Busch explores the seductive desires of envy and violence within fashion drawing on political theories. He proposes that the violent conflicts of fashion happen not only in arid cotton fields or collapsing factories, but in the everyday practice of getting dressed, in the judgments, sneers, and rejections of others. Indeed, he suggests that feelings of inclusion and adoration are what make us feel the pleasure of being fashionableof being seductive, popular, and powerful. Exploring the conflicting emotions associated with fashion, Von Busch argues that while the current stat
Trade ReviewPart political theory, part design project, part manifesto for change; this book catapults us towards a more mutual, meaningful and alive system of fashion. * Kate Fletcher, Centre for Sustainable Fashion, University of the Arts London, UK *
Theoretically provocative …
The Psychopolitics of Fashion will stimulate research and creative practice for years to come. * Susan Kaiser, University of California, Davis, USA *
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations 1. Introduction 2. Fashion is conflict 3. Metaphor and mask 4. The Current State of Fashion – the supremacy of style 5. The Fashion Police – micro-regulating everyday style 6. The Fashion Safehouse – counter-capabilities and com-passions 7. Beyond the state: towards deep fashion References Appendix - Fashion Police Manual FM1-15
