Fashion as Cultural Translation

Patrizia Calefato is Professor at the Università degli studi di Bari “Aldo Moro”, Italy, where she teaches sociology of culture and communication.

• Introduction: Fashion as Cultural Translation in the Hyperconnected World; Supplement to the Introduction: Fashion, the Hyperconnected World and Coronavirus; 1. Time; 2. Spaces; 3. Fashion as Cultural Tradition: Italian Style; 4. Fashion as Cultural Translation; 5. Clothed Bodies; 6. The Body as Text; 7. Humans and Beyond; 8. Fashion and the ‘Second Nature’; 9. Fashion, Communication and Converging Media; 10. Fashion Narratives in Visual Culture; Conclusions: Fashion as an Idea about the Future; References; Index.

’Fashion has always been an indicator of the times in which it was created. In Fashion as a Cultural Translation, Calefato shows us that fashion informs itself from the past and will into the future, often in a non-linear manner. Calefato shows us the complexity of the role that fashion plays in society and the interpretations of clothing based on elements such as time, location, culture, technology, communication and global socioeconomics. Through her research, we see fashion as a “living, breathing” medium that evolves and mutates through time, space and style; exhibiting cultural significance beyond the threads that define it.’ —Todd Lynn, Associate Professor, Department of Fashion, Kingston School of Art, UK