Fashion is a popular style or trend that becomes the dominant mode of dress and personal appearance for a particular time or period. Often, fashion is determined by social change, economic trends, and the influence of celebrities and cultural icons. The term “fashion” can also refer to the overall art of designing and assembling clothes, including textiles, jewelry, and hairstyles. The fashion industry, which is concerned with the design, production, and marketing of clothing, is a multibillion-dollar global enterprise that includes haute couture and mass-market production.
While the popularity of a certain fashion may be short-lived, the process of creating it can take quite some time. It is estimated that the average fashion designer spends over nine years establishing his or her brand before making a profit. The production of clothing, shoes, and accessories can have a significant impact on the environment. Excessive consumption of these items contributes to waste and pollution, such as by polluting the water supply and contaminating the land and air through landfill. The production of these items uses natural resources such as cotton, wood, and metal that are limited.
Some people follow the latest fashions to express their creativity, individuality, or to keep up with the latest developments. For example, many teenagers wear makeup to look more attractive. Others may follow the latest styles in order to fit into a particular group, such as emo or goth. The terms “fashion victim” and “fashionista” have been used to describe people who slavishly follow the latest trends.
The history of fashion can be traced back to ancient times, when people began to adorn themselves with clothes and accessories. Fashions have varied over the centuries, reflecting changes in culture, politics, wars, and economies. For example, women’s clothing in the seventeenth century included tight corsets that cinched the waist, wide hoops worn on their shoulders called panniers, and pagoda sleeves that reached from the shoulder to the elbow. The Rococo style of the eighteenth century saw tiny waists and full skirts that trailed on the ground, and the nineteenth century saw long dresses with ruffled sleeves and high collars.
The fashion industry today is extremely competitive. In addition to the many designers that produce haute couture, there are many retailers and manufacturers that make mass-market clothing. These companies often copy the designs of top fashion houses or runway shows and sell them at lower prices to the general public. There is an ever-increasing divide between the expensive designer fashions seen on the runways and the inexpensive mass-produced styles that are advertised in the media, marketed by celebrity and other models, and sold in stores and malls around the world. The shortened turnaround time between when a trend is first seen on the catwalk or in the media and when it hits the store shelves has led to a fast-paced and ever-changing fashion cycle. This has also contributed to the rise of fast fashion, with chains such as H&M and Zara offering affordable versions of designs originally shown in expensive magazines and at fashion shows.