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“The fashion industry creates fashion victims unable to resist its seductive forces”. Discuss this statement with reference to specific examples.
Many modern societies are represented by a strongly held belief that ‘to have is to be’.
An individual’s identity is influenced by the symbolic meanings of his and her own material possessions, and the way in which s/he relates to those possessions. (Dittmar 1992. p.205)
The above quotation implies that we live in a society whereby individuals define themselves and others in terms of the possessions and lie satisfaction is judged in terms of what possessions have or have not been acquired, which in turn symbolise one’s achievements, qualities and interests.
Consumerism first came about in the late eighteenth century, around the time of the industrial revolution. The emergence of capitalist production, especially after the boost received from the adoption of scientific management and ‘Fordism’ (a phrase named after Henry Ford based on mass production and assembly-line technology ) bought together both the construction of new markets and the
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‘education’ of the public to become consumers through advertising and other media.
Storey (1999) wrote that at this time, more than ever before, men and women were enjoying the experience of buying products and acquiring material possessions. These “privileged possession” were once only available to those of wealth and higher status but had now become available to much larger part of society within a few decades.
Colin Campbell (1983, 1987, 1993, 1995) believes that in order to fully understand cultural consumption, one must look at the idea of ‘romanticism’; the intellectual and artistic movement that surfaced along the same time as industrialisation. This, according to Campbell, played an integral part in the growth of consumer society. He states that;
Objective reality and subjective response were now mediated through consciousness in such a way that the individual had a wide degree of choice concerning exactly how to connect them. Beliefs, actions, aesthetic preferences and emotional responses were no longer automatically dictated by circumstances but “willed” by individuals.
(Campbell, 1987: 11).
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This argument shows that, although consumerism was flourishing, producers were not able to force consumer choices. This is where the use of advertising and imagery comes into play.
The philosopher Adorno (1972) spoke of how, once the dominance of exchangevalue has changed to wipe the memory of the original use-value of goods, the product becomes free to take up a secondary use-value. Commodities then take on a range of cultural associations and illusions. For instance, advertising can give a product a given image to the consumer, such as that of romance, beauty, desire, fulfilment or power.
This view of advertising and the way in which it is used within advertising is somewhat supported by Gundle (2008) who writes that consumer’s fantasies and dreams of escape are part of this commercial world.
Today, advertising plays a very large part in consumer society. The use of media such as television, magazines and other forms of ‘branding’, we are faced with imagery everywhere we turn. The fashion industry emulates an image of status and it is because of this that it is one of the key players to use advertising. Through the use of imagery, designers and brands are conveying ideas and ‘ideals’ to consumers on a daily basis, in the hope of drawing us in to believe that these garments are necessities rather than just desires.
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Gundle (2008) goes on to say that;
..It is often the desire to sell to a mass public that leads a designer to seek the endorsements of a star…As such; they are powerful mediators of the collective imagination.
He continues to say that during the regency era, between the 1820s and 1840s, social leaders had established their superior status by means of refined clothing and accessories. The use of ones dress established ones status and class within society.
Celebrities are arguably the ‘social leaders’ of today. They are seen as having a ‘superior status’ through their image and are followed by the media daily. Many celebrities are used to endorse garments because of the strong fan base that they have. .
Celebrity endorsement is, in today’s society, one of the most popular forms of retail advertising. Celebrities who are endorsers of particular products have an ability to grab the audience’s attention. This gives the retailers a better chance of communicating their message to consumers (Choi and Rifon, 2007).
In today’s star-focused society, celebrities and fashion magazines are both seen as major influences in consumer’s buying decision process.
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Media insiders have a name for the trend: The “InStyle-ization”of fashion, which can be traced to 1994 when the first celebrity lifestyle magazine, InStyle, was launched. With the ever growing seduction of celebrity and style in today’s media, consumers are able to emulate and ‘become’ ones favourite star through the use of fashion. While some may want the exact dress or brand of jeans they saw a favorite star wear in a magazine; most consumers take a more interpretive approach. For instance, after Sienna Miller was photographed in the summer of 2004 wearing a more bohemian style of dress, the ‘boho’ movement was born and long flowing skirts with fake fur gillets became a major trend among her legions of adoring fans. Trends such as these are what originally inspired retailers such as the website ASOS.com (previously known as ‘As Seen on Screen’). This fashion website was established in June 2000. ASOS.com attracts over 5.4 million unique visitors a month. It has 2.4 million registered users and has been credited by fashion press throughout the country. Consumers can search for particular pieces in the style of their favourite celebrity, emulating their look at a lower cost. On April 30th 2007 Topshop launched its new collaboration with Kate Moss. With hundreds queuing outside and many more poised at their PCs to order online, the first collection made Topshop £3million in its first week. Alexander Chancellor at the Guardian reported of a teenage girl who had bought a Kate Moss dress saying that it had appealed to her because “it is quite cool to own clothes designed by the most fashionable woman on the planet". He went on to argue 5
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that “The nation is gripped by the delusion that any object associated with a celebrity comes with its own supply of stardust”. This supports the debate that fashion conscious people are also fashion victims that follow blindly all fashion trends that are popularised by celebrities or even the media. Topshop are not the only high-street chain to collaborate with a celebrity. Around the same time, New Look launched its range in association with Lily Allen. The ‘Lily Loves’ range, although not quite as highly publicised as the much sought after Kate Moss range, was a one-off collection that soon set the tone of the New Look brand, who later went on to do collaborations with the famous designer, Giles Deacon and a range endorsed by Kimberley Walsh from Girls Aloud. Another high-street chain, H&M, has also produced fashion ranges with the help of Karl Largerfield, Madonna and more recently has collaborated with the very famous shoe designer, Jimmy Choo. Although not all press was positive about this recent partnership there was an element of understanding due to the current financial situation as written by Mortished of the TimesOnline: This recession has been very bad for designer luxury and even if the slummy end of the high street is recovering, it isn’t over yet for people who sell £5,000 watches and £500 shoes. These collaborations and endorsements have one thing in common (other than the use of celebrities). They are all aimed at a younger audience, looking for a touch of luxury and their favourite celebrity look.
Consumers of a younger
audience are seen to be more ‘malleable’ to the media and they may feel
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compelled to follow every fashion trend to enhance or maintain their self image and identity. They are known as more likely to engage with fashion as this can offer them something they may lack in life.
Fashion clothing and the idea of fashion itself is considered as an area of interest in consumer research, as is how consumers follow the trends of fashion which in turn affects marketing and the general pattern of fashion consumption. O’Cass (2004) examined the effects of materialism and self image as well as product image on consumer involvement in fashion clothing. The study showed that materialism and self image tend to affect purchase decision involvement, subjective fashion knowledge, as also consumer confidence
Following a particular celebrity can be seen to give consumers a sense of identity, such as the young girl queuing outside Topshop just to buy a ‘piece’ of Kate Moss, almost in the same way as following a particular fashion trend in itself. It is seen as an important aspect of social life to some, and ones involvement in fashion can enhance self image and self esteem as society considers this as a positive. Identity has been strongly linked to materialism and self-image and self esteem. Banister and Hogg (2004) for example, discuss how self esteem needs tend to drive consumption of fashion clothing and this can lead to acceptance or rejection of symbolic or branded goods. It is interesting to note the relationship between self esteem and rejection or acceptance of brands and goods within the 7
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context of fashion consumption. Is there a positive self esteem associated with the acceptance of fashion products or branding or is there a negative self image that is constantly looking for external props such as fashion clothing to enhance one’s acceptance in society? Dressing like a particular celebrity can give the consumer a sense of identity and in ‘Identifying’ with ones choice, people are seen to be showing acceptance in a visual form. However, others argue that emulating the style of a celebrity is driven by one’s self esteem. Cairns (2007) provides an insightful article on the different aspects of fashion, how it could be accessible to the common people and how young people become fashion victims as fashion trends are created by brands and companies. Fashion and trends and becoming a ‘slave to fashion’ can create concerns in modern society and it would be essential to understand the limits to which one can follow fashion. Fashion can fast become an addiction and consumers may feel compelled to follow every fashion trend to enhance or maintain their self image and identity.
With all this in mind, the question can now be asked; are consumers merely dedicated followers of fashion or fashion victims?
The idea of becoming a ‘fashion victim’ (a phrase once coined by the designer Oscar De La Renta about the very people to whom the industry sold his
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garments) poses many questions, such as; do consumers no longer have the freedom of choice to make their own decisions? And, is it possible for consumers to blame society into forcing them into a ‘trend’ of following a celebrity and their style? For, becoming a victim would mean that an element of blame should need to be placed upon the industry itself. Or is this the fault of the celebrity, who encourages this behaviour by endorsing their ‘look’ for everyone to buy?
Another way in which to look at this argument could be that if the fashion industry operates as part of a larger, capitalist consumer culture where money equals power and status, are consumers not encouraging this power by buying into it in order to become of higher status themselves?
If this is deemed to be true then consumers and their dependence on fashion for power can indeed create fashion victims and, in turn, could be detrimental to a healthy society, both socially and economically.
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Bibliography
Adorno (1972) ‘The Production of Consumption’ in Featherstone, M. (1991) Consumer Culture and Postmodernism. London; Sage. pp. 14
Banister, Emma N.; Hogg, Margaret K. (2004) ‘Negative symbolic consumption and consumers? drive for self-esteem: The case of the fashion industry’, European Journal of Marketing, Volume 38, Number 7, pp. 850-868(19)
Cairns, George (2007) ‘A discussion of Fashion Victims: Various responses to the report by War on Want’, Critical Perspectives on International Business, Volume 3, Number 2, pp. 170-185(16)
Chancellor, A. (2007) http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/may/04/comment.comment Accessed 1st December 2009
Choi, S.M. and Rifon, N.J. (2007), ‘Who is the celebrity in advertising? Understanding dimensions of celebrity images’, Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 40 No.2, pp.304-25
Dittmar, H (1992) The social psychology of material possessions, Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf
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Falk, P (1994) ‘The Genealogy of Advertising’ in Clarke (eds.) 2003. The Consumption Reader. London: Routledge. pp.24, 185-190
Featherstone, M. 1991. Consumer Culture and Postmodernism. London: Sage. pp. 9-11
Mortishead, C. (2009) http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article692 2105.ece Accessed 1st December 2009
O'Cass, Aron (2004) ‘Fashion clothing consumption: antecedents and consequences of fashion clothing involvement’, European Journal of Marketing, Volume 38, Number 7, pp. 869-882(14)
Storey, J.1999. Cultural Consumption and Everyday Life. New York: Arnold. pp. 1-10
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