Since the mid-Nineties, in the wake of the blatant success achieved by the luxury business, fashion has boldly established itself as an academic field of study. The history, semiotics and sociology of fashion have contributed to a veritable explosion of "fashion studies". University courses on fashion are no longer devoted exclusively, as in past, to training designers, but also involve key professional roles - once relegated to a mere "support" status and now acknowledged as crucial - such as managers, press office agents, PR operators, and image consultants. As a consequence, there has also been a proliferation of books on the fashion industry that often address, in a disorderly manner, a wide array of disparate topics. That's why this book focuses on a specific guiding principle among the many possible perspectives on fashion. The author does not attempt to deal with every author who has ever written about fashion, but prefers to introduce the reader to a selection of fundamental studies and integrate them into a sound approach to understanding fashion.

Contents: Introduction - I. The Concept of Fashion - II. Diffusion Theories - III. Fashion System Theories - IV. The Language of Fashion - V. The Fashion System: Frontiers and Actors - VI. The Fashion System: Historical Development - VII. Organizational Perspectives - Bibliographical References.

Nicoletta Giusti teaches Creative Work Dynamics, Fashion Business Organization and Organizational Change Strategies at the University of Bologna.