Fashion Industry, Essay Example

The fashion industry is constantly changing and continuously flooded by fads and innovations. The past century was marked by recurrent upheavals in the fashion industry.  The most popular fads associated with the fashion industry in the last century consist of fashion statements like the wide-leg bell bottoms, rear-enhancing bustles, the short flapper dresses, as well as deliberately ripped jeans (Hall, 1992).

Haute Couture of  1900-1920

The fashion industry has specifically been of impact to the women with the 1900’s fashion highlighting the outline of full-grown, full-figured women body. Low busts together with curvy hips were displayed by the type of clothing associated with that era. The skirts of this era were long with small train similar to contemporary wedding gowns. With time however, skirts were made shorter to the extent of revealing the ankles. The dress outline also transformed to narrower and straighter line (Steele, 2000).

20th century Fashion

Women started rejecting the archaic designer styles and developed a taste of the comfortable, casual wears. The fashion industry was characterized by flannel shirts along with ripped jeans and baggy pants were motivated by the hip-hop movements. The guiding factor to the choice of clothing for women was comfort in the 20th century. In the workplace, casual clothing gained popularity as a result of their comfort (Pendergast, 2004).

The trend has changed to the current era in which some people go for costly designer clothing. However, casual clothing that is much comfortable and with reasonable prices has gained popularity among most people.

A clear understanding of the fashion industry is important because this industry is under dynamic changes. Before the middle of the 19th century, the industry was characterized by clothing made specifically for individuals. The trend changed with the onset of the 20th century due to the introduction of new technology associated with sewing machines, a factory production system, department stores, retail outlets and global capitalism (Steele, 2000). This made the fashion industry to turn to mass production of standard sizes of clothing with predetermined prices (Breward, 2003)

Consequently, fashion forecast interpretation is a significant aspect of the conventional fashion industry that facilitates development of products. It is also important to have appropriate knowledge concerning the processes of product development which has important implications in this industry (Steele, 1998).

Importance of understanding the fashion industry

A comprehensible knowledge in the fashion industry is also an important tool to facilitate coping with dynamic environment of fashion industry which is promoted by the changes in technology. The changes are also reflected in rapid evolution of customers as well as the market from the traditional, static criteria based on demographic factors towards vibrant, contemporary, mood, lifestyle along with psycho graphic manipulations. An understanding of the industry is also vital as it facilitates predicting the purchasing habits, customer behavior and moods and the inclination of the industry at any time (Pendergast, 2004).  The era of identifying potential markets and clients on the basis of their geographical locations, age and level of income has been overtaken by events. Understanding the fashion industry provides vital information of the fashion cycle that plays a significant role in marketing. Traders are able to project the market needs and have a clear insight of the taste of their clients if they are equipped with comprehensive knowledge of the fashion industry

Works cited

Breward, Christopher, The culture of fashion: a new history of fashionable dress, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003.

Cumming, Valerie: Understanding Fashion History, Costume & Fashion Press, 2004.

Hall, Lee. Common Threads: A Parade of American Clothing. Boston: Little, Brown. 1992.

Pendergast, Sara. Fashion, Costume and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages. Detroit: UXL. 2004.

Steele, Valerie, Paris fashion: a cultural history, (2. ed., rev. and updated), Oxford: Berg, 1998.

Steele, Valerie, Fifty years of fashion: new look to now, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000.