The Distinction between Earlier Forms of Fashion and the Current Advances in Fashion - Term Paper Example

Fashion performance Name Institution Abstract Fashion performance is an aspect that studies the rich and varied fields of clothing, footwear, accessories, makeup, body piercing, or furniture and other fashion trends. The idea about it is that it involves a person or persons undertaking an action or actions within a particular timeframe in a given space or location. Most significantly in it is the presence of the artist and the real action or design on a body or material to create and present an ephemeral art experience to an audience. Also production of raw materials not only fibers and textiles but also leather and fur; the production of fashion goods by designers, manufacturers, contractors, and others; retail sales; and various forms of advertising and promotion. The methods used to analyze this fashion performance and included: publications especially fashion magazines and books, media such as videos, historical sources, fashion trade shows, cultural events, Catwalk shows and fashion forecasting. It was established from these sources that from the 1960s through to the 1990s fashion was a term associated with design schools and technical training institutions that used to serve the fashion industry and fashion was also observed first with institutes such as museums that are dedicated to the study of clothes and their culture. It was not until the 20th century that disciplines and institutions were brought out to study fashion trends and make new fashion designs that changed the phase of the fashion industry research centers, academic journals, fashion trade shows, fashion models, graduate programs have emerged at a greater rate than ever to boost the growth and performance of the industry. Fashion performance is an art that involves the display of various designs to the public for the purpose of marketing a new design, appreciating it and for correction of the design as a consequence. Various collections are displayed and this is usually done via runway shows where models dressed in these designs display the whole idea to the public. The impact of this is that various unique fashion designs have emerged, jobs have been created all focusing on fashion and new trends, the government and corporate bodies have also come in the latter in the name of branding, marketing and as part of corporate social responsibility especially in supporting trade shows, runway collections graduates and other responsibilities. Introduction There’s a marked distinction between earlier forms of fashion and the current advances in fashion which cuts across clothing, raw materials, cosmetics, footwear, body piercing and tattoos and even furniture amongst many others. Fashion performance also entails designers showcasing their designs through models in some fashion show, a costume designer also supervising and dressing actors before staging a performance or even a stylist dressing artists for a video shoot and also if someone adorns oneself before an awards, speech or presentation to promote a theme. It’s an art in the fashion industry as gone through various evolution phases for the purpose of making the consumers products to be custom made and displayed to them via fashion trade show affairs and runways. The designers in this case are influenced by travels, people’s roots and trends in the establishment of the new designs. This research is aimed at establishing this changes and their impact and also establishing the various factors that have fostered the adoption of today’s currents trends by comparing them with the predecessor trends. Specifically: 1. How are the traditional markets on fashion performance continuing to evolve? 2. Which new fashion performance markets are emerging and what are their uniqueness? 3. What initiatives are the government and the industries undertaking to fuel the growth of fashion performance? 4. What’s the impact of fashion performance to the society and culture? and 5. What challenges are presenting in the achievement of fashion performance milestones in the fashion industry? The significance of this research is to appreciate where the trends in fashion are heading by assessing the performance of the industry. This’s done through acknowledging traditional fashion practices and comparing them to the present practices and hence perform a fashion forecast. Forecasting provides a way for executives to expand their thinking about changes, through anticipating the future and projecting the likely outcomes (Lavenback and Cleary 1981). These questions were investigated by using the following methods: publications especially fashion magazines and books, media such as videos, historical sources, fashion trade shows, Cultural events, Catwalk shows and fashion forecasting which were closely studied and by relating the various developments in fashion and comparing them with the previous, traditional fashions across the world and based on this the main findings that were noted is that there’s a general incorporation of traditional attires in the modern clothe designing and this has been noted across Africa as people are closely preferring to be associated with their identity, although newer trends very different from the traditional ones have emerged. The cosmetics industry, interior decorations, footwear have seen massive improvements from their performance indexes but some footwear industries have moved in to advance the traditional leather made footwear for the purpose of encouraging durability and maintaining the traditional touch. Certain countries have also emerged as hubs of fashion trends with places like Dubai gaining a lot of interest. Literature review Fashion performance has gained a lot of attention in this 20th century age as it is this time unveiling the delicate(involves trial and errors) and traditional process of fashion design to the public. Fashion performance not only promotes fashion but also art, music, cultures and research into better designs (Straus and Lynch, 2007) which supports its widespread acceptance. Fashion performance also includes dressing for an audience, as in a designer dressing models for a fashion show, a costume designer dressing actors for stage or screen, a stylist for a music video or dressing oneself for a public appearance like a speech or awards show. Conceptual Framework Fashion performance as a culture form Way back in 1940s the fashion industry was branded a ‘sunset industry’ with no hopes but the New York Times recently was keen to note that ‘the sun never sets on the runway’ after all. Fashion performances have not only thrived in the handful fashion capital, but its spreading to the small country capitals at a faster rate hat can never be imagined for instance a catwalk fashion show is a fashion performance tool as well as sales promotion. Such variety can be attributed to the creativity of the designers as they seek to remain in touch with various cultures. Cultural studies have termed this an enchanted spectacle (Evans 2001), the greatest show on earth (Duggan, 2001; 2006) and also a performance art (Theunissen, 2006). Fashion performances have been common with women but menswear fashion can also be traced back in 1930s (Musee Galliera, 2006, 155) but have been outscored by women’s wear shows. Sociologist Howard Becker (1982) defines the fashion industry and its elements like fashion performance as an art world with its own social and aesthetic traditions hence fashion performances can be regarded as a cultural form. Pierre Bourdieu says that art is defined, not by specific qualities in art objects, but by being produced by individuals who are appreciated as legitimate artists (Bourdieu, 1993) and he establishes that the relationship between the creator and the art work is of great significance. Thus fashion is mediated through a designer or a brand each of which can establish an author function (Foucault, 1984, 108-111) similar to that found in the institution of art. Hence fashion performance actually is the presentation of the creativity of the designers to a special audience. Fashion performance as a technology Swedish ethnologist Orvar Lofgren (2005) coined the term ‘catwalk economy’ that describes the establishment of novelties with built in obsolescence. Lofgren’s point is that in the ‘new economy, of the 1990s, the catwalk technology became a foundation for the establishment of other industries just like today’s technology. Fashion performance as a profession Fashion performance is an art thus a talent and large numbers of people work to realize these shows actually about twenty exempting the models and support staff like caterers. Budgets of five million dollars have been quoted in some staging of performances such as those of Chanel (Duggan, 2006, 226). Professionals like stylist, a photographer, interior decorator, production managers, choreographers, dressers, designers and musical artists are involved. The interaction of all these people is what finally brings the blend and variety unique for fashion performances. Designers extend their vision with an overall theme, colors, light, music, hair and makeup and model direction. The fashion show has become such a production that most designers now hire producers to supervise the runway, models and guests Fashion performance as a challenge. London College of Fashion has conducted research on how the aspects like ethnic groups, religion and gender impact on fashion performance and especially how Europeans view Muslim women. The research concluded that Muslims cover their bodies, dress differently and this is perceived as controversial politically by Europeans and not an aspect of fashion regardless of Muslims embracing fashion like any other human (Minozzo, 2011) This simple study indicates that some groups of people depending on ideologies will perceive their fashion as the best but it may be at complete loggerheads with other groups concerning the same fashion (Straus and Lynch, 2007, 5). Fashion performance today is going for variety and trying as hard to inculcate all the various sectors of ethnicity, culture and beliefs. Methodology Traditional markets Institutions like museums have been established to preserve the native cultural designs that have been part of the process of fashion performance evolution. Case studies were done amongst people of various countries most significantly South Africa, United States, India, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. Other emerging markets that were of study include Singapore, United Arab Emirates, India and Brazil. Quantitative methods here included social surveys and experimental data based on documents that have closely followed the fashion industries of this countries from as far as 1973. Case studies were used because certain parts of the world are the hubs of fashion and they determine the progress of the fashion industry and were amongst the first countries to try out fashion performances. Emerging markets like South Africa could not be exempted from such case studies. The government and industrial contributions were also surveyed and their impact on fashion performance. Sampling was used due to existence of fashion performance hubs thus research data was confined to these areas, although as a limitation this may not reflect the true world view or position on fashion performance. In this case the production of various raw materials used in the fashion industry such as cotton, rayon were studied, new fibers, fiber blends, new yarns, fabric structures. Other new synthetic raw materials were also projected and their production compared across the various countries. Fashion forecasting was also brought in to predict future trends. Observing the trends is also a tool used. A survey of the emerging markets was also done and a map was submitted to present these key countries. Fashion events amongst the fashion hubs were also analyzed to establish trends. Fashion industries were also analyzed and the data used to project future trends and the impact of this industries to both society, culture and the future. Data results and analysis Paris Fashion Week was established in 1973. Milan Fashion Week also follows suite and the government of Italy pledged to support the country’s fashion performance arts financially during economic crisis. London Fashion Week and other large fashion events in the UK, the Graduate Fashion Week supports fashion students. The data below Fig 1.0 shows the major stakeholders in fashion performance in 2004 with US having a larger share. 1.0 Global fashion performance events map Fig 1.0 Emerging markets South Africa (SA) was dominated by American youth culture until 1994 but domestic brands have established since then. Local brands like Stoned Cherrie have gained international recognition and are the key drivers in fashion performance industry. A Fashion District was also created in 2006 as part of the Johannesburg Economic Development Unit, Linda Vilakazi-Tselane acting director of the Economic Development Unit was quoted saying, we are trying to stimulate new designs in the market and this gives young designers a platform to be exposed”. A survey also by ACNielsen indicates that a third of UAE respondents buy luxury goods and that the customers are more attracted to designer apparels than accessories. Singapore is also an upcoming market and has received funding from the government through the trade ministry and the tourism board that came up with the Singapore Fashion Week. Fig 1.1 shows these markets 1.1Overview of emerging markets Fig 1.1 1.2An overview of Global emerging markets and key growth drivers Fig 1.2 1.3 Industrial performance in US since 1987 Fig 1.3 Italian government announced that it will finance the fashion industry and the fashion performance arts including a tax credit for the production of clothes raw materials. In the US fashion performance events were 11 in 2004 but in 2008, 44 events were noted compared to France and Italy with fewer events (2 and 4) respectively both in 2004 and 2008. US states have events like Chicago Fashion Week (2007), Virginia Fashion Week (2007) and Fashion Week San Diego (2008). Japan In 2005 established the ‘Tokyo Girls Collection’ that promoted local brands and since then together with Japan Fashion Week the events are held twice yearly in Tokyo. Challenges met in the study and the growth of fashion performances include firstly the different cultures which some of them don’t tolerate some fashion designs and remain conservative. This is observed amongst the religious classes e.g. Muslims dressing, Christian value etc. Secondly some regions especially Africa remain unexplored as potential markets due to limited infrastructure to exploit this industry completely. Data from this region cannot be projected. Thirdly government policies have neglected this industry and no legislations have passed to support it according to The Human Rights Act 1998, some countries like Uganda have banned some of this fashions performances (BBC, 2014) Fashion forecasting Currently, young fashion designers have been invited in Paris to showcase their designs through performance arts with high profile brands like Amani, Prada and Versace shortlisting SA for expansion. In UAE, in 2009 the markets of Saudi Arabia and Turkey were listed amongst top 10 attractive markets and UAE consumers are purchasing brands like Channel and Dior. Russia has its brands like Chapurin being displayed in Paris Fashion Week and a marked 14.8% increase consumer expenditure on fashion products had been noted between 2002 and 2007. India on the other hand is going for luxury brands and consumer spending on fashion products has grown annually at 7.1% from 2002 to 2007 while Brazils market is expected to grow by 35% over the next 5 years as it has had exports growing at annual average of 5% since 2002. Fig 1.3 show that the manufacturing companies are increasing each year in the US showing a positive growth and support to the fashion performance culture from 1987 to 2010. These are future horizons. Conclusion Fashion performance as an art hence can be traced back in 1973 in Paris Fashion Week in the wake of encouraging intimacy between the consumer and the variety of fashion products available simplified by the designer as new products were presented to the public. Various professionals have integrated premises to support the changes in fashion performance. Challenges like difference in governance, ethnicity, cultures, religion and economics have crippled further exploitation of this fashion performance art Recommendation Future improvements on this study should target Africa which has shown some great unexploited potential. Areas like Nairobi, Kenya with its vast Maasai fashion could stage great performances, Kampala should also follow suite. West Africa countries should also be targeted especially Nigeria with great potential. Bibliography Jeffrey Banks and John Duggan (2006). The growth in the social Security Disability Rolls. 1st ed. Now Press Orvar Lofgren (2005) Magic, Culture, and the New Economy 1s ed. Bloomsbury Academic Press Michael Foucault, Paul Rabinow (1984) The Foucault reader. New edition. Penguin publishers Imogene and Evie. (2009) ‘Autumn/winter’ Paris fashion week. 04 March, 2009 Laing and Sleivert, (2002) Clothing, textiles and human performance: a critical review of the effect on human performance of clothing and textiles Tiisetso Motsoeneng and Yara Bayoumy. (2012) ‘Africa "black diamond" spenders show their luster’ Reuters. 23 January, 2012 Christian Rogerson (2006) Developing fashion industry in Africa 17th ed. Springer Netherlands Publisher Yuniya Kawamura (2011) Doing research in fashion and dress 1st ed. Berg Publishers ACNielsen fashion report (2010) ‘A global Nielsen consumer report’ 23 April, 2010 Jay Ruttenberg, (2011) ‘Mediating Modesty: A symposium at the London College of Fashion’. Fashion projects, 9 May 2013 Mitchell Strauss, Annette Lynch (2007) Changing fashion: a critical introduction to trend analysis and meaning.1st ed. Berg Publishers Pierre Bourdieu, (1993) Sociology in question 14th edition Sage publishers Howard, (1984) Becker Art Worlds .25th anniversary ed. 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