91711 - Writing for Fashion in Italian and European Culture

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student knows in depht the main fashion writings in Italian and European culture, is able to interpret them critically and acquire the tools to elaborate professional texts for written fashion communication through specific analysis of various textual typologies such as literature, the language of advertising and journalism.

Course contents

The course will be taught in English.

Students are invited to reflect on the importance of language within the dynamics of fashion in the context of Italian and European culture. This means learning not only how to read but also how to write using this type of language, in order to achieve an all-encompassing reflection. Since fashion, as a system of communication, exists thanks to language, it is necessary to know its different typologies, which range from fashion journalism to literature and from criticism and philosophy to moral and even religious reflection, via the words of the fashion designers themselves. Knowing how to read these texts also means knowing how to write about fashion, using the many registers available and taking into account one’s own (mother) tongue and cultural language, in an exercise of cultural deconstruction that is essential to every form of writing about fashion within the contexts of both marketing and scholarly criticism.

So, what does it mean to write about fashion in Italian and European culture? The course begins with a statement that already entails its thesis: every culture, which is expressed through different languages, transmits, describes, and processes the issue of fashion in several different ways when it comes to the creation of fashion, its marketing, and the literature and scientific criticism revolving around it. Therefore it is essential to be able to deconstruct, from a cultural point of view, what it means to write about fashion – or ‘mode’ or ‘moda’, to use three languages that take up a sizeable share of the fashion market and its aesthetics – also taking into account different registers and genres, as well as geographic differences. What does it mean to write about fashion in a non-European or non-Western culture? The very term ‘fashion’ is used in different ways and is also a source of power. A culture, in fact, can also transmit ethical, moral, and cultural values that have historically been hostile to certain fashions. Indeed European culture, just like other cultures, has written not only in favour of fashion but also against it. Thus, the knowledge of these cultural dynamics is essential to understanding the meaning behind the written words of fashion.

Readings/Bibliography

At the conclusion of each lecture, the professor will provide a bibliography of reference readings on the topics dealt with during the lecture.

Roland Barthes, The Language of Fashion, edited by A. Stafford and M. Carter, Berg/Power Publications 2006.

M. Carter, Fashion Classics: from Carlyle to Barthes, Berg Publishers 2003.

R. Lewis, Modest Fashion: Styling Bodies, Mediating Faith, London, Tauris, 20143.

B. Moeran, The Magic of Fashion: Ritual, Commodity, Glamour, London, Routledge, 2019.

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons accompanied by commentaries on texts, images and videos and exchange with students in a reflexive methodology.

Assessment methods

Writing Fashion means to be able to write on Fashion in different styles and angles. The assessment will be on the capacity on writing a paper (3000 words) whose content is to be chosen according to the lessons and to the character of the text itself (novel, fashion magazine article, scientific article and philosophical critic).

Teaching tools

Texts; slides; videos.

Office hours

See the website of Fabio Carlo Antonio Ambrosio