20711200 - Sociology of fashion

The course focuses on the study and the analysis of fashion from a sociological perspective. The first part of the course provides students with the analytical and methodological tools to understand fashion in relation to society, body representations and identities, with particular attention to the social dimensions involved in the processes of meaning construction associated with fashion. The second part of the course, intertwining fashion with artistic performances and digital technologies, will devote specific attention to fashion in the public discourse, in order to analyse fashion as a space of social inclusiveness.
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Programme

The course deals with the study of the main theoretical models applied to the sociological analysis of fashion in relation to the identity and the social change. The first part of the course aims to provide students with the main tools for understanding the dynamics of fashion production and consumption in relation to society (from the ceremonial institutions to costumes, from social class to “conspicuous consumption”, from the imitation and social differentiation processes to the “style in revolt” of the subcultures and cultural studies), with a focus on body representations and identities and the processes of meaning construction associated with fashion. The second part of the course addresses the relationship between fashion, contemporary subjectivities and public discourse and is devoted to investigate recent trends in fashion and "dressed bodies" (ethical and sustainable fashion, genderless and adaptive fashion), offering a specific focus on the relationship between fashion, artistic performance and digital technologies.



Core Documentation

a) Barthes, Roland (ediz. it. 2006), Il senso della moda. Forme e significati dell’abbigliamento, Torino, Einaudi.
b) Moreover, the following readings:
1. Simmel, Georg (1986), La moda, in G. Ragone (a cura di), Sociologia dei fenomeni di moda, Milano, FrancoAngeli, pp. 83-105.
2. Veblen, Thorstein (1986), L’abbigliamento come espressione della cultura finanziaria, in G. Ragone (a cura di), Sociologia dei fenomeni di moda, Milano, FrancoAngeli, pp. 196-208.
3. Davis, Fred (2008), Gli stadi del processo della moda, in C. Baldini (a cura di), Sociologia della moda, Roma, Armando, pp. 155-166.
4. Almila, Anna-Mari (2016) Fashion, Anti-Fashion, Non-Fashion and Symbolic Capital: the Uses of Dress among Muslim Minorities in Finland, in “Fashion Theory”, 20, 1, pp. 81-102.
5. Luchetti, Lia, Tota, Anna Lisa (2012), Abiti che fanno opinione, in P. Volontè e M. Pedroni (a cura di), Moda e Arte, Milano, Franco Angeli, pp. 87-101.


Type of delivery of the course

The course is based on traditional lectures. In the case of an extension of the health emergency due to COVID-19, all the provisions regulating the teaching activities and the students' assessments will be implemented.

Type of evaluation

The exam will be written and it will last two hours. The students will be asked to reply extensively to three questions. In the case of an extension of the health emergency due to COVID-19, all the provisions regulating the teaching activities and the students' assessments will be implemented. In particular, the following methods will be applied: the exam will be oral and carried out online.