ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on some of the more obvious features of fashion, as people commonly perceive it: designers; shows; and magazines. The production and diffusion of fashion is organised along two main axes: luxury fashion and industrial fashion. In this respect, the field of fashion follows a general ‘dualist’ structural principle laid down by Pierre Bourdieu in that it consists of two coexisting sub-fields. The first point of entry for anyone interested in the fashion world is to learn the names of famous fashion designers based in the five fashion capitals of Paris, London, Milan, New York, and Tokyo. A fashion show is a biannual presentation of a new clothing collection on moving bodies for an audience. The new collection is produced by a designer, brand, company, or group of companies. European and United States fashion magazines have promoted an image of woman that affirms and sells white skin, youth, beauty, charm, and sexuality as valuable attributes of femininity.
