Beyond Fashion: Inside the Fashion Business

This thoroughly-illustrated volume covers all elements of the fashion business beyond clothing, from the commercial to psychological and sociological aspects of the industry. Branding, marketing, retailing, merchandising and business identity, style, the eternal pursuit of beauty, and the search for personal expression are the fundamental aspects of an industry which has evolved to become one of the most sophisticated, influential and dynamic sectors in the world. The implications are not just economic: what we wear conveys who we are. Clothes and accessories are the bearers of complex psychological and social canons, they are aesthetic products, means of self-definition and objects of desire. Complementary to the evolution of fashion itself, hand-in-hand with changes in taste throughout history, the practice of shopping has undergone epic transformations, becoming a daily activity, an integral part of everyday life. So, which elements are involved in the creation of this 'desire'? What are the ingredients of fashion alchemy? This book reveals these and many more secrets of the fashion business.