Fashion in Europe, India and the Western Culture

Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion industry as that which is trending Fashion Europe and India culture. Everything that is considered fashion is available and popularized by the fashion system (industry and media).

Due to increased mass-production of commodities and clothing at lower prices and global reach, sustainability has become an urgent issue among politicians, brands, and consumers.

Fashion Definition

Fashion is defined in a number of different ways, and its application can be sometimes unclear. Though the term fashion connotes difference, as in “the new fashions of the season”, it can also connote sameness, for example in reference to “the fashions of the 1960s”, implying a general uniformity.

Fashion can signify the latest trends, but may often reference fashions of a previous era, leading to the understanding of fashions from a different time period re-appearing. While what is fashionable can be defined by a relatively insular, esteemed and often rich aesthetic elite who make a look exclusive, such as Fashion Europe India culture ,fashion houses and haute couturiers, this ‘look’ is often designed by pulling references from subcultures and social groups who are not considered elite, and are thus excluded from making the distinction of what is fashion themselves.

Fashion is unique, self-fulfilling and may be a key part of someone’s identity. Similarly to art, the aims of a person’s choices in fashion are not necessarily to be liked by everyone, but instead to be an expression of personal taste. A person’s personal style functions as a “societal formation always combining two opposite principles. It is a socially acceptable and secure way to distinguish oneself from others and, at the same time, it satisfies the individual’s need for social adaptation and imitation.” While philosopher Immanuel Kant believed that fashion “has nothing to do with genuine judgements of taste”, and was instead “a case of unreflected and ‘blind’ imitation”, sociologist Georg Simmel thought of fashion as something that “helped overcome the distance between an individual and his society”.

Fashion is also a source of art, allowing people to display their unique tastes and styling. Different fashion designers are influenced by outside stimuli and reflect this inspiration in their work. For example, Gucci’s ‘stained green’ jeans may look like a grass stain, but to others, they display purity, freshness, and summer.

Even though the terms fashion, clothing and costume are often used together, fashion differs from both. Clothing describes the material and the technical garment, devoid of any social meaning or connections; costume has come to mean fancy dress or masquerade wear. Fashion, by contrast, describes the social and temporal system that influences and “activates” dress as a social signifier in a certain time and context. Philosopher Giorgio Agamben connects fashion to the qualitative Ancient Greek concept of kairos, meaning “the right, critical, or opportune moment”, and clothing to the quantitative concept of chronos, the personification of chronological or sequential time.

Fashion industry and Trend