Designing Clothes: Culture and Organization of the Fashion IndustryFashion is all around us: we see it, we buy it, we read about it, but most people know little about fashion as a business. Veronica Manlow considers the broader signifi cance of fashion in society, the creative process of fashion design, and how fashion unfolds in an organizational context where design is conceived and executed. To get a true insider's perspective, she became an intern at fashion giant Tommy Hilfi ger. Th ere, she observed and recorded how a business's culture is built on a brand that is linked to the charisma and style of its leader. Fashion firms are not just in the business of selling clothing along with a variety of sidelines. Th ese companies must also sell a larger concept around which people can identify and distinguish themselves from others. Manlow defi nes the four main tasks of a fashion fi rm as creation of an image, translation of that image into a product, presentation of the product, and selling the product. Each of these processes is interrelated and each requires the eff orts of a variety of specialists, who are often in distant locations. Manlow shows how the design and presentation of fashion is infl uenced by changes in society, both cultural and economic. Information about past sales and reception of items, as well as projective research informs design, manufacturing, sales, distribution, and marketing decisions. Manlow offers a comprehensive view of the ways in which creative decisions are made, leading up to the creation of actual styles. She helps to defi ne the contribution fashion fi rms make in upholding, challenging, or redefi ning the social order. Readers will fi nd this a fascinating examination of an industry that is quite visible, but little understood. |
Other editions - View all
Designing Clothes: Culture and Organization of the Fashion Industry Veronica Manlow Limited preview - 2009 |
Designing Clothes: Culture and Organization of the Fashion Industry Veronica Manlow Limited preview - 2018 |
Designing Clothes: Culture and Organization of the Fashion Industry Veronica Manlow No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
Abboud American apparel Armani artist asked Barthes Baudrillard became become began brand Calvin Klein Carl casual Chanel charisma charismatic authority charismatic leader color consumer corporate couture Crane create creative cultural arbiter department stores describes designer’s division dress elite employees environment example executive explains fabrics fashion design fashion firms fashion industry feel garment Giorgio Armani global Gucci Hilfiger’s ideas identity individual innovation inspiration J.C. Penney jacket jeans Karl Lagerfeld Lagerfeld leadership licensing lifestyle Liz Claiborne logo look Loretta Louis Vuitton LVMH manufacturers men’s clothing menswear merchandise Milbank Murjani one’s organization organization’s organizational culture particular pep rally person Polo Ralph Lauren ready-to-wear retail role says shirts social society someone sportswear status structure style suit symbolic tailored theme there’s tion Tommy Hilfiger trends Versace women worn York Yves Saint Laurent
Popular passages
Page 8 - Fashion is the imitation of a given example and satisfies the demand for social adaptation; it leads the individual upon the road which all travel, it furnishes a general condition, which resolves the conduct of every individual into a mere example.
Page 8 - At the same time it satisfies in no less degree the need of differentiation, the tendency towards dissimilarity, the desire for change and contrast, on the one hand by a constant change of contents, which gives to the fashion of today an individual stamp as opposed to that of yesterday and of to-morrow, on the other hand because fashions differ for different classes - the fashions of the upper stratum of society are never identical with those of the lower; in fact, they are abandoned by the former...