Fashion Capital: New York
Semiotics presumes that visual images and their associated signs can be read in the same manner as a text. In the same way, fashion and body beautification have their own language and can be read as explanation of a person’s character as well as personality. Cultural semiotics makes up a significant element of visual rhetoric because of the fact that it can turn simple signs and codes into actual conversations. Every individual possesses unique personality, opinions, and set of beliefs. Moreover, to express identity people use the body as a canvas for projection. According to Elizabeth Wilson:
In all societies the body is ‘dressed’ and everywhere dress and beautification play symbolic, communicative and artistic roles. Dress is always ‘unspeakably meaningful.’ The earliest forms of ‘clothing’ seem to have been beautifications such as body painting, ornaments, scarifications (scarring), tattooing, masks and often constricting neck and waist bands. Many of these deformed, reformed or otherwise modified the body. (Rampley 68)
According to Bennett (96), “fashion provides one of the most ready ways through which individuals can make expressive visual statements about their identities.” From this perspective, it is reasonable to suggest that fashion has a very important role in the society. Thus, understanding various aspects of fashion is also of utmost importance. It is from this point of view that this paper discusses the importance of New York as a fashion city.
A fashion capital is a city that has major influence on the global fashion trends as well as the core of the fashion industry, where activities such as designing, production and retailing of fashion items, events like fashion week and fashion awards as well as other fashion-related activities gain important economic output. Such cities normally have a wide range of financial, business, cultural, and entertainment activities globally recognized for their strong and exceptional identity. According to
In all societies the body is ‘dressed’ and everywhere dress and beautification play symbolic, communicative and artistic roles. Dress is always ‘unspeakably meaningful.’ The earliest forms of ‘clothing’ seem to have been beautifications such as body painting, ornaments, scarifications (scarring), tattooing, masks and often constricting neck and waist bands. Many of these deformed, reformed or otherwise modified the body. (Rampley 68)
According to Bennett (96), “fashion provides one of the most ready ways through which individuals can make expressive visual statements about their identities.” From this perspective, it is reasonable to suggest that fashion has a very important role in the society. Thus, understanding various aspects of fashion is also of utmost importance. It is from this point of view that this paper discusses the importance of New York as a fashion city.
A fashion capital is a city that has major influence on the global fashion trends as well as the core of the fashion industry, where activities such as designing, production and retailing of fashion items, events like fashion week and fashion awards as well as other fashion-related activities gain important economic output. Such cities normally have a wide range of financial, business, cultural, and entertainment activities globally recognized for their strong and exceptional identity. According to
Cited: Bennett, Andy. Culture and Everyday Life. London: Sage, 2005. Print. E-Book. Bloomberg, Michael Breward, Christopher and Gilbert, David. Fashion’s World Cities. New York, 2006. Print. Buckley, Cheryl and Hazel, Clark. "Conceptualizing Fashion in Everyday Lives." Design Issues 28.4 (2012): 18-28. Print. http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/DESI_a_00172 Currid, Elizabeth Rampley, Matthew. Exploring Visual Culture: Definitions, Concepts, Contexts. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005. Print. 67-84. E-Book.