People have been documenting the history of clothing for a long time, but the analytical study of fashion as a key sociological phenomenon has only existed for three decades.People have been documenting the history of clothing for a long time, but the analytical study of fashion as a key sociological phenomenon has only existed for three decades. That it exists at all is mostly thanks to Gilles Lipovetsky, a French philosopher and sociologist whose book The Empire of Fashion: Dressing Modern Democracy (1987) is still the definitive staple if you really want to know what's at stake when you buy a dress.

Lipovetsky, a father of two and author of thirteen books (translated into twenty languages), has stayed away from the cities where fashion is shown, living and teaching at the foot of the French Alps, in the city of Grenoble. Given the opportunity to interview one of the world's most prominent academic specialists in fashion, we didn't want to ask him anything as trivial as who his favorite designer is (OK, it's André Courrèges). We certainly didn't wish to pry into the elements of his personal style (black suit, black shirt, black shoes, if you must know). We even thought it might be a bit banal to inquire as to what has been the most decisive event in the way fashion has come to dominate our lives (that would be the development of mass luxury-inspired brands such as H&M and Zara). Instead, we figured we'd dive right into a discussion of fashion hermeneutics (dictionary apps at the ready).
POST: 2024-11-24