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165-478: Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing , footwear , accessories , cosmetics , and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into outfits that depict distinctive ways of dressing ( styles and trends ) as signifiers of social status , self-expression , and group belonging. As a multifaceted term, fashion describes an industry , styles , aesthetics , and trends. The term 'fashion' originates from

330-412: A sparring weapon , so the equipment aspect rises above the glove aspect). More specialized forms of protective equipment, such as face shields are classified as protective accessories. At the far extreme, self-enclosing diving suits or space suits are form-fitting body covers, and amount to a form of dress, without being clothing per se, while containing enough high technology to amount to more of

495-631: A " state of exception " as the dominant paradigm for governing in contemporary politics. He warns against a "generalization of the state of exception" through laws like the USA PATRIOT Act , which means a permanent installation of martial law and emergency powers . In January 2004, he refused to give a lecture in the United States because under the US-VISIT he would have been required to give up his biometric information, which he believed stripped him to

660-468: A 13th-century poem by Guillaume de Lorris advising men that "handsome clothes and handsome accessories improve a man a great deal". Fashion scholar Susan B. Kaiser states that everyone is "forced to appear", unmediated before others. Everyone is evaluated by their attire, and evaluation includes the consideration of colors , materials, silhouette, and how garments appear on the body. Garments identical in style and material also appear different depending on

825-522: A contrasting stripe down the leg, ugg boots , floral print maxi skirts , Y2K inspired platform shoes , chunky red rain boots , shimmery jumpsuits , knitted dresses, leather pilot jackets with faux fur collars, skirts with bold contrasting vertical stripes, trouser suits with bootcut legs, jeans with glittery heart or star-shaped details, chunky white or black sandals, and zebra print tote bags . Big, oversized garments were often made from translucent materials and featured cutouts intended to expose

990-500: A crucial distinction in Greek between "bare life" ( la vita nuda or zoê / ˈ z oʊ i / ; Gk. ζωή zoê ) and "a particular mode of life" or "qualified life" ( bios UK : / ˈ b aɪ ɒ s / , US : /- oʊ s / ; Gk. βίος bios ). In Part III, section 7 of Homo Sacer , "The Camp as the 'Nomos' of the Modern", he evokes the concentration camps of World War II. "The camp

1155-475: A dinner jacket and to accessorize in new ways. Some men's styles blended the sensuality and expressiveness, and the growing gay-rights movement and an emphasis on youth allowed for a new freedom to experiment with style and with fabrics such as wool crepe, which had previously been associated with women's attire. The four major current fashion capitals are acknowledged to be New York City ( Manhattan ), Paris , Milan , and London , which are all headquarters to

1320-582: A diverse array of animal and plant fibers, such as wool, linen, cotton, silk, hemp, and ramie. Although modern consumers may take the production of clothing for granted, making fabric by hand is a tedious and labor-intensive process involving fiber making, spinning, and weaving. The textile industry was the first to be mechanized – with the powered loom  – during the Industrial Revolution . Different cultures have evolved various ways of creating clothes out of cloth. One approach involves draping

1485-488: A genealogical approach to several concepts that Ludwig Wittgenstein established in his late philosophy, primarily the Philosophical Investigations : rule-following , form-of-life , and the central importance of 'use' (for Wittgenstein: 'the meaning of a word is its use in language', and he uses 'language' not just to speak of word-language but any understandable behaviour). Agamben traces earlier versions of

1650-417: A grass stain, but to others, they display purity, freshness, and summer. Fashion is unique, self-fulfilling and may be a key part of someone's identity. Similarly to art, the aims of a person's choices in fashion are not necessarily to be liked by everyone, but instead to be an expression of personal taste. A person's personal style functions as a "societal formation always combining two opposite principles. It

1815-767: A greatest likelihood of speciation lying at about 107,000 years ago. Kittler, Kayser and Stoneking suggest that the invention of clothing may have coincided with the northward migration of modern Homo sapiens away from the warm climate of Africa, which is thought to have begun between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago. A second group of researchers, also relying on the genetic clock, estimate that clothing originated between 30,000 and 114,000 years ago. Dating with direct archeological evidence produces dates consistent with those of lice. In September 2021, scientists reported evidence of clothes being made 120,000 years ago based on findings in deposits in Morocco . The development of clothing

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1980-491: A large and growing market. In the Western dress code, jeans are worn by both men and women. There are several unique styles of jeans found that include: high rise jeans, mid rise jeans, low rise jeans, bootcut jeans, straight jeans, cropped jeans, skinny jeans, cuffed jeans, boyfriend jeans, and capri jeans. The licensing of designer names was pioneered by designers such as Pierre Cardin , Yves Saint Laurent , and Guy Laroche in

2145-488: A larger philosophical critique of the concept of sovereignty itself, which he argues is intrinsically related to the state of exception. Agamben, in an article published by Il Manifesto on 26 February 2020, quoted the NRC in saying that there was no COVID-19 pandemic : "In order to make sense of the frantic, irrational, and absolutely unwarranted emergency measures adopted for a supposed epidemic of coronavirus, we must begin from

2310-515: A long period without significant changes. In eighth-century Moorish Spain , the musician Ziryab introduced to Córdoba sophisticated clothing styles based on seasonal and daily fashions from his native Baghdad , modified by his inspiration. Similar changes in fashion occurred in the 11th century in the Middle East following the arrival of the Turks , who introduced clothing styles from Central Asia and

2475-610: A means of communicating their wealth and social standing, as well as an indication of their knowledge and understanding of current fashion trends to the general public. As a result, clothing played a significant role in making the social hierarchy perceptible to all members of society. In some societies, clothing may be used to indicate rank or status . In ancient Rome , for example, only senators could wear garments dyed with Tyrian purple . In traditional Hawaiian society, only high-ranking chiefs could wear feather cloaks and palaoa, or carved whale teeth. In China, before establishment of

2640-425: A means to carry things while freeing the hands. Clothing has significant social factors as well. Wearing clothes is a variable social norm . It may connote modesty . Being deprived of clothing in front of others may be embarrassing . In many parts of the world, not wearing clothes in public so that genitals , breast , or buttocks are visible could be considered indecent exposure . Pubic area or genital coverage

2805-566: A natural person) and outside the law (since as a body politic he has power to suspend law for an indefinite time). Agamben draws on Carl Schmitt 's definition of the Sovereign as the one who has the power to decide the state of exception (or justitium ), where law is indefinitely "suspended" without being abrogated. Agamben argues that laws have always assumed the authority to define "bare life" – zoe , as opposed to bios , or 'qualified life' – by making this exclusive operation, while at

2970-697: A needle at least 50,000 years old from Denisova Cave in Siberia made by Denisovans . Dyed flax fibers that date back to 34,000 BC and could have been used in clothing have been found in a prehistoric cave in Georgia . Several distinct human cultures, including those residing in the Arctic Circle, have historically crafted their garments exclusively from treated and adorned animal furs and skins. In contrast, numerous other societies have complemented or substituted leather and skins with textiles woven, knitted, or twined from

3135-625: A number of rich traditions; though these were often drawn upon by Western designers, Asian clothing styles gained considerable influence in the early- to mid-2000s. China Chinese fashion remained constantly changing over the centuries. In China, throughout the Tang Dynasty (618–907), women wore extravagant attire to demonstrate prosperity. Mongol men of the Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368) wore loose robes; horsemen sported shorter robes, trousers, and boots to provide ease when horseback riding. The leaders of

3300-580: A profit. A fashion trend signifies a specific look or expression that is spread across a population at a specific time and place. A trend is considered a more ephemeral look, not defined by the seasons when collections are released by the fashion industry. A trend can thus emerge from street style , across cultures, and from influencers and other celebrities . Fashion trends are influenced by several factors, including cinema, celebrities, climate, creative explorations, innovations, designs, political, economic, social, and technological. Examining these factors

3465-938: A protective function. For instance, corrective eyeglasses , Arctic goggles , and sunglasses would not be considered an accessory because of their protective functions. Clothing protects against many things that might injure or irritate the naked human body, including rain, snow, wind, and other weather, as well as from the sun. Garments that are too sheer, thin, small, or tight offer less protection. Appropriate clothes can also reduce risk during activities such as work or sport. Some clothing protects from specific hazards, such as insects, toxic chemicals, weather, weapons , and contact with abrasive substances. Humans have devised clothing solutions to environmental or other hazards: such as space suits , armor , diving suits , swimsuits , bee-keeper gear , motorcycle leathers , high-visibility clothing , and other pieces of protective clothing . The distinction between clothing and protective equipment

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3630-548: A short article intending to define the fundamental concepts of national-socialism, Schmitt defines the Führung principle (sic!) by the "root identity between the leader and his entourage".{" identité de souche entre le chef et son entourage" } Agamben's thoughts on the state of emergency leads him to declare that the difference between dictatorship and democracy is thin indeed,or even ontologically non-existent, as rule by decree became more and more common, starting from World War I and

3795-689: A short while, as advisor to the publishing house Einaudi and developed plans for a journal), Ingeborg Bachmann , Pierre Klossowski , Guy Debord , Jean-Luc Nancy , Jacques Derrida , Antonio Negri , Jean-François Lyotard and many, many others. His strongest influences include Martin Heidegger , Walter Benjamin and Michel Foucault . Agamben edited Benjamin's collected works in Italian translation until 1996, and called Benjamin's thought "the antidote that allowed me to survive Heidegger". In 1981, Agamben discovered several important lost manuscripts by Benjamin in

3960-537: A sign of provincial culture and later a badge of the conservative peasant. Although tailors and dressmakers were no doubt responsible for many innovations, and the textile industry indeed led many trends, the history of fashion design is generally understood to date from 1858 when the English-born Charles Frederick Worth opened the first authentic haute couture house in Paris. The Haute house

4125-567: A sign of mourning. The Quran says about husbands and wives, regarding clothing: "...They are clothing/covering (Libaas) for you; and you for them" (chapter 2:187). Christian clergy members wear religious vestments during liturgical services and may wear specific non-liturgical clothing at other times. Clothing appears in numerous contexts in the Bible. The most prominent passages are: the story of Adam and Eve who made coverings for themselves out of fig leaves , Joseph 's coat of many colors , and

4290-428: A society according to age, social class, generation, occupation, and geography, and may also vary over time. The terms fashionista and fashion victim refer to someone who slavishly follows current fashions. In the early 2000s, Asian fashion influences became increasingly significant in local and global markets. Countries such as China, Japan, India, and Pakistan have traditionally had large textile industries with

4455-475: A solidarity that in no way concerns an essence". It is important to note his understanding of "whatever" not as being indifference but based on the Latin "quodlibet ens" translated as "being such that it always matters". Agamben starts off by describing "The Lovable" : Love is never directed toward this or that property of the loved one (being blond, being small, being tender, being lame), but neither does it neglect

4620-488: A special case of occupational clothing. Sometimes it is worn only during the performance of religious ceremonies. However, it may be worn every day as a marker for special religious status. Sikhs wear a turban as it is a part of their religion. In some religions such as Hinduism , Sikhism , Buddhism , and Jainism the cleanliness of religious dresses is of paramount importance and considered to indicate purity. Jewish ritual requires rending (tearing) of one's upper garment as

4785-695: A state of "bare life" ( zoe ) and was akin to the tattooing that the Nazis did during World War II. However, Agamben's criticisms target a broader scope than the US " war on terror ". As he argues in State of Exception (2005), rule by decree has become common since World War I in all modern states, and has been since then generalized and abused. Agamben points out a general tendency of modernity, recalling for example that when Francis Galton and Alphonse Bertillon invented "judicial photography" for " anthropometric identification",

4950-431: A state of exception that lasted twelve years. In this sense, modern totalitarianism can be defined as the establishment, by means of the state of exception, of a legal civil war that allows for the physical elimination not only of political adversaries but of entire categories of citizens who for some reason cannot be integrated into the political system" (Agamben, p. 2). The political power over others acquired through

5115-402: A state of exception, when a detainee is placed outside the law he or she is, according to Agamben, reduced to "bare life" in the eyes of the judicial powers. Here, one can see why such measures as hunger strikes can occur in such places as prisons. Within the framework of a system that has deprived the individual of power, and their individual basic human freedoms, the hunger strike can be seen as

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5280-515: A term often used by Foucault} – the state of exception, justitium , the auctoritas principis , the Führertum -, put in use in more or less different circumstances, in the 1930s – overall, but not only – in Germany, the power that Weber had defined as "charismatic" is related to the concept of auctoritas and elaborated in a Führertum doctrine as the original and personal power of a leader. In 1933, in

5445-563: A tool than a garment. This line will continue to blur as wearable technology embeds assistive devices directly into the fabric itself; the enabling innovations are ultra low power consumption and flexible electronic substrates . Clothing also hybridizes into a personal transportation system ( ice skates , roller skates , cargo pants , other outdoor survival gear , one-man band ) or concealment system ( stage magicians , hidden linings or pockets in tradecraft , integrated holsters for concealed carry , merchandise -laden trench coats on

5610-519: A used T-shirt with a Tongan wrapped skirt, or tupenu . For practical, comfort or safety reasons, most sports and physical activities are practised wearing special clothing. Common sportswear garments include shorts , T-shirts , tennis shirts , leotards , tracksuits , and trainers . Specialized garments include wet suits (for swimming, diving , or surfing ), salopettes (for skiing ), and leotards (for gymnastics). Also, spandex materials often are used as base layers to soak up sweat. Spandex

5775-405: A weapon or form of resistance. "The body is a model which can stand for any bounded system. Its boundaries can represent any boundaries which are threatened or precarious." Within a state of exception the boundaries of power are precarious and threaten to destabilize not only the law, but one's humanity, as well as their choice of life or death. Forms of resistance to the extended use of power within

5940-435: A wide variety of materials, ranging from leather and furs to woven fabrics, to elaborate and exotic natural and synthetic fabrics . Not all body coverings are regarded as clothing. Articles carried rather than worn normally are considered accessories rather than clothing (such as Handbags ), items worn on a single part of the body and easily removed ( scarves ), worn purely for adornment (jewelry), or items that do not serve

6105-900: A wide variety of situations), but a wider range of clothing styles is available for women. Typically, men are allowed to bare their chests in a greater variety of public places. It is generally common for a woman to wear clothing perceived as masculine, while the opposite is seen as unusual. Contemporary men may sometimes choose to wear men's skirts such as togas or kilts in particular cultures, especially on ceremonial occasions. In previous times, such garments often were worn as normal daily clothing by men. In some cultures, sumptuary laws regulate what men and women are required to wear. Islam requires women to wear certain forms of attire, usually hijab . What items required varies in different Muslim societies; however, women are usually required to cover more of their bodies than men. Articles of clothing Muslim women wear under these laws or traditions range from

6270-424: Is a socially acceptable and secure way to distinguish oneself from others and, at the same time, it satisfies the individual's need for social adaptation and imitation." While philosopher Immanuel Kant believed that fashion "has nothing to do with genuine judgements of taste", and was instead "a case of unreflected and 'blind' imitation", sociologist Georg Simmel thought of fashion as something that "helped overcome

6435-439: Is a violent act within a time of crisis. Agamben's State of Exception investigates how the suspension of laws within a state of emergency or crisis can become a prolonged state of being. More specifically, Agamben addresses how this prolonged state of exception operates to deprive individuals of their citizenship. When speaking about the military order issued by President George W. Bush on 13 November 2001, Agamben writes, "What

6600-483: Is akin to Max Weber 's concept of charisma . This is why the tradition ordered, at the king's death, the creation of the sovereign's wax-double in the funus imaginarium , as Ernst Kantorowicz demonstrated in The King's Two Bodies (1957). Hence, it is necessary to distinguish two bodies of the sovereign in order to assure the continuity of dignitas (term used by Kantorowicz, here a synonym of auctoritas ). Moreover, in

6765-507: Is an animal born to life (Gk. ζῆν, zen ), but existing with regard to the good life (εὖ ζῆν, eu zen ) which can be achieved through politics. Bare life, in this ancient conception of politics, is that which must be transformed, via the State, into the "good life"; that is, bare life is that which is supposedly excluded from the higher aims of the state, yet is included precisely so that it may be transformed into this "good life". Sovereignty, then,

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6930-453: Is called a PEST analysis . Fashion forecasters can use this information to help determine the growth or decline of a particular trend. People's minds as well as their perceptions and consciousness are constantly changing. Fads are inherently social, are constantly evolving in a contradiction between the old and the new, and are in a sense easily influenced by those around them, and therefore also begin to imitate constantly. Continuing on from

7095-457: Is conceived from ancient times as the power which determines what or who is to be incorporated into the political body (in accord with its bios ) by means of the more originary exclusion (or exception) of what is to remain outside the political body—which is at the same time the source of that body's composition ( zoe ). According to Agamben, biopower , which takes the bare lives of the citizens into its political calculations, may be more marked in

7260-557: Is considerable evidence in Ming China of rapidly changing fashions in Chinese clothing . In imperial China, clothing were not only an embodiment of freedom and comfort or used to cover the body or protect against the cold or used for decorative purposes; it was also regulated by strong sumptuary laws which was based on strict social hierarchy system and the ritual system of the Chinese society. It

7425-430: Is considered appropriate. The differences are in styles, colors, fabrics, and types. In contemporary Western societies, skirts , dresses , and high-heeled shoes are usually seen as women's clothing, while neckties usually are seen as men's clothing. Trousers were once seen as exclusively men's clothing, but nowadays are worn by both genders. Men's clothes are often more practical (that is, they can function well under

7590-630: Is deeply connected to human evolution, with early garments likely consisting of animal skins and natural fibers adapted for protection and social signaling. According to anthropologists and archaeologists, the earliest clothing likely consisted of fur , leather, leaves, or grass that was draped, wrapped, or tied around the body. Knowledge of such clothing remains inferential, as clothing materials deteriorate quickly compared with stone, bone, shell, and metal artifacts. Archeologists have identified very early sewing needles of bone and ivory from about 30,000 BC, found near Kostenki , Russia in 1988, and in 2016

7755-468: Is in effect something that humans are and have to be, but this is not an essence nor properly a thing: It is the simple fact of one's own existence as possibility or potentiality… The reduction of life to 'biopolitics' is one of the main threads in Agamben's work, in his critical conception of a homo sacer , reduced to 'bare life', and thus deprived of any rights. Agamben's concept of the homo sacer rests on

7920-529: Is made by those with judicial power. For example, Agamben would argue that Guantánamo Bay exemplifies the concept of 'the state of exception' in the United States following 9/11. Agamben mentions that basic universal human rights of Taliban individuals while captured in Afghanistan and sent to Guantánamo Bay in 2001 were negated by US laws. In reaction to the removal of their basic human rights, detainees of Guantánamo Bay prison went on hunger strikes . Within

8085-504: Is more aspirational; inspired by art and culture, and in most cases, reserved for the economic elite . However, New York's fashion calendar hosts Couture Fashion Week, which strives for a more equitable and inclusive mission. Fashion is also a source of art, allowing people to display their unique tastes, sensibilities, and styles. Different fashion designers are influenced by outside stimuli and reflect this inspiration in their work. For example, Gucci 's 'stained green' jeans may look like

8250-723: Is new about President Bush's order is that it radically erases any legal status of the individual, thus producing a legally unnameable and unclassifiable being. Not only do the Taliban captured in Afghanistan not enjoy the status of POW's (prisoner of war) as defined by the Geneva Convention , they do not even have the status of people charged with a crime according to American laws" (Agamben, pg 3). 780 Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan were held at Guantánamo Bay without trial. These individuals were termed " enemy combatants ." Until 7 July 2006, these individuals had been treated outside

8415-485: Is not always clear-cut since clothes designed to be fashionable often have protective value, and clothes designed for function often have corporate fashion in their design. The choice of clothes also has social implications. They cover parts of the body that social norms require to be covered, act as a form of adornment, and serve other social purposes. Someone who lacks the means to procure appropriate clothing due to poverty or affordability, or lack of inclination, sometimes

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8580-429: Is preferable for active sports that require form fitting garments, such as volleyball, wrestling, track and field, dance, gymnastics, and swimming. Paris set the 1900–1940 fashion trends for Europe and North America. In the 1920s the goal was all about getting loose. Women wore dresses all day, every day. Day dresses had a drop waist, which was a sash or belt around the low waist or hip and a skirt that hung anywhere from

8745-651: Is recognized as the national dress of India. Japan For Japan, the people during the Meiji period (1868–1912) widely incorporated Western styles into Japanese fashion, which is considered to be a remarkable transformation for the Japanese vogue. They extensively adopted the style and practices of Western cultures.The upper classes wore more extravagant pieces of clothing like luxurious patterned silks and adorned themselves with fancy sashes. Women also started wearing Western dresses in public instead of their traditional Kimono . Most of

8910-450: Is related to various perceptions, physiological, social, and psychological needs, and after food, it is clothing that satisfies these comfort needs. Clothing provides aesthetic, tactile, thermal, moisture, and pressure comfort. The most obvious function of clothing is to protect the wearer from the elements. It serves to prevent wind damage and provides protection from sunburn . In the cold, it offers thermal insulation . Shelter can reduce

9075-438: Is said to be worn, ragged, or shabby. Clothing performs a range of social and cultural functions, such as individual, occupational, gender differentiation, and social status. In many societies, norms about clothing reflect standards of modesty , religion, gender , and social status . Clothing may also function as adornment and an expression of personal taste or style. Serious books on clothing and its functions appear from

9240-479: Is subject to decay, and the erosion of physical integrity may be seen as a loss of cultural information. Costume collections often focus on important pieces of clothing considered unique or otherwise significant, limiting the opportunities scholars have to study everyday clothing. Clothing has long served as a marker of social status, gender, and cultural identity, reflecting broader societal structures and values. In most cultures, gender differentiation of clothing

9405-507: Is the most frequently encountered minimum found cross-culturally and regardless of climate, implying social convention as the basis of customs. Clothing also may be used to communicate social status, wealth, group identity, and individualism. Some forms of personal protective equipment amount to clothing, such as coveralls , chaps or a doctor's white coat , with similar requirements for maintenance and cleaning as other textiles ( boxing gloves function both as protective equipment and as

9570-402: Is the principal enemy of the State. Wherever these singularities peacefully demonstrate their being in common there will be Tiananmen, and, sooner or later, the tanks will appear. In his main work "Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life" (1998), Agamben analyzes an obscure figure of Roman law that poses fundamental questions about the nature of law and power in general. Under the laws of

9735-413: Is the space that is opened when the state of exception begins to become the rule." Agamben says that "What happened in the camps so exceeds (is outside of) the juridical concept of crime that the specific juridico-political structure in which those events took place is often simply omitted from consideration." The conditions in the camps were " conditio inhumana ," and the incarcerated somehow defined outside

9900-572: The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) and the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights as well as textile and clothing trade unions have sought to improve these conditions by sponsoring awareness-raising events, which draw the attention of both the media and the general public to the plight of the workers. Outsourcing production to low wage countries such as Bangladesh , China, India, Indonesia , Pakistan , and Sri Lanka became possible when

10065-543: The Genroku period and the later centuries of the Edo period (1603–1867), during which a time clothing trends switched from flashy and expensive displays of wealth to subdued and subverted ones. The myth on the lack of fashion in what was considered the Orient was related to Western Imperialism also often accompanied Orientalism , and European imperialism was especially at its highest in

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10230-551: The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology —have attempted to constrain the most recent date of the introduction of clothing with an indirect method relying on lice . The rationale for this method of dating stems from the fact that the human body louse cannot live outside of clothing, dying after only a few hours without shelter. This strongly implies that the date of the body louse's speciation from its parent, Pediculus humanus , can have taken place no earlier than

10395-592: The Multi Fibre Agreement (MFA) was abolished. The MFA, which placed quotas on textiles imports, was deemed a protectionist measure. Although many countries recognize treaties such as the International Labour Organization , which attempt to set standards for worker safety and rights, many countries have made exceptions to certain parts of the treaties or failed to thoroughly enforce them. India for example has not ratified sections 87 and 92 of

10560-649: The Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) maintained Manchu dress, while establishing new garments for officials; while foot binding —originally introduced in the 10th century—was not preserved, women of this era were expected to wear particular heels that pushed them to take on a ladylike walk. Then, in the 1920s, qipao was in vogue and the style consisted of stand collars, trumpet sleeves, straight silhouettes and short side slits. Since then, designers started to move into Western fashion like fur coats and cloaks and body-hugging dresses with long side slits as qipao became more popular. In

10725-605: The University of Macerata and at the University of Verona , both in Italy. He also has held visiting appointments at several American universities, from the University of California, Berkeley , to Northwestern University , and at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf . Agamben received the Prix Européen de l'Essai Charles Veillon in 2006. In 2013 he was awarded the Dr. Leopold Lucas Prize by

10890-511: The University of Tübingen for his work titled Leviathans Rätsel (Leviathan's Riddle, translated into English by Paul Silas Peterson). Much of Agamben's work since the 1980s can be viewed as leading up to the so-called Homo Sacer project, which properly begins with the book Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life . In this series of works, Agamben responds to Hannah Arendt 's and Foucault's studies of totalitarianism and biopolitics. Since 1995 he has been best known for this ongoing project,

11055-468: The black market — where the purpose of the clothing often carries over into disguise ). A mode of dress fit to purpose, whether stylistic or functional, is known as an outfit or ensemble. Estimates of when humans began wearing clothes vary from 40,000 to as many as 3 million years ago, but recent studies suggest humans were wearing clothing at least 100,000 years ago. Recent studies by Ralf Kittler, Manfred Kayser and Mark Stoneking— anthropologists at

11220-455: The head-scarf to the burqa . Some contemporary clothing styles designed to be worn by either gender, such as T-shirts, have started out as menswear, but some articles, such as the fedora , originally were a style for women. During the early modern period , individuals utilized their attire as a significant method of conveying and asserting their social status. Individuals employed the utilization of high-quality fabrics and trendy designs as

11385-493: The imperium consulare or the potestas tribunicia . The Duce ' s or the Führer ' s qualities are immediately related to the physical person and belong to the biopolitical tradition of auctoritas and not to the juridical tradition of potestas . Thus, Agamben opposes Foucault's concept of " biopolitics " to right (law), as he defines the state of exception, in Homo sacer , as

11550-518: The maximalist and 1980s influences of the early 2020s , vibrant coloured clothing had made a comeback for women in America, France, China, Korea, and Ukraine by the spring of 2023. This style, sometimes referred to as " dopamine dressing", featured long skirts and belted maxi dresses with thigh splits, lots of gold and pearl jewelry, oversized striped cardigan sweaters , multicoloured silk skirts with seashell or floral print, strappy sandals, pants with

11715-400: The mid to late 1970s , Western shirts with pearl snaps in denim or bright madras plaid made a comeback, and sometimes featured contrasting yokes and cuffs with intricate embroidery. Moccasins , stonewash denim waistcoats with decorative fringes, preppy loafers, navy blue suits and sportcoats , straight leg jeans instead of the skinny jeans fashionable from the late 2000s until

11880-447: The republic , only the emperor could wear yellow. History provides many examples of elaborate sumptuary laws that regulated what people could wear. In societies without such laws, which includes most modern societies, social status is signaled by the purchase of rare or luxury items that are limited by cost to those with wealth or status. In addition, peer pressure influences clothing choice. Some religious clothing might be considered

12045-402: The 1950s and 60s, ‘Lenin coats’ with double lines of buttons, slanting pockets and a belt came into vogue among Chinese men. India In India, it has been common for followers of different religions to wear corresponding pieces of clothing . During the 15th century, Muslim and Hindu women wore notably different articles of clothing. This is also seen in many other Eastern world countries. In

12210-480: The 1960s and has been a common practice within the fashion industry from about the 1970s. Among the more popular include Marc Jacobs and Gucci , named for Marc Jacobs Guccio Gucci respectively. By the early years of the twenty-first century, western clothing styles had, to some extent, become international styles. This process began hundreds of years earlier, during the periods of European colonialism . The process of cultural dissemination has been perpetuated over

12375-504: The 1960s, when designers such as Pierre Cardin and Rudi Gernreich created garments, such as stretch jersey tunics or leggings, meant to be worn by both males and females. The impact of unisex wearability expanded more broadly to encompass various themes in fashion, including androgyny, mass-market retail, and conceptual clothing. The fashion trends of the 1970s, such as sheepskin jackets, flight jackets, duffel coats, and unstructured clothing, influenced men to attend social gatherings without

12540-540: The 1970s, he worked primarily on linguistics, philology, poetics, and topics in medieval culture. During this period, Agamben began to elaborate his primary concerns, although their political bearings were not yet made explicit. In 1974–1975 he was a fellow at the Warburg Institute , University of London , due to the courtesy of Frances Yates , whom he met through Italo Calvino . During this fellowship, Agamben began to develop his second book, Stanzas (1977). Agamben

12705-447: The 19th century. In the 19th century time, Europeans described China in binary opposition to Europe, describing China as "lacking in fashion" among many other things, while Europeans deliberately placed themselves in a superior position when they would compare themselves to the Chinese as well as to other countries in Asia : Latent orientalism is an unconscious, untouchable certainty about what

12870-524: The BBC, voiced their opinions of the forced feedings stating that this was a breach of the government's power and was against the rights of the prisoners. In The Coming Community , published in 1990 and translated by longtime admirer Michael Hardt in 1993, Agamben describes the social and political manifestation of his philosophical thought. Employing diverse short essays he describes the nature of "whatever singularity" as that which has an "inessential commonality,

13035-653: The East Asia, in India, and Middle East, where the perceived lack of fashion were associated with offensive remarks on the Asian social and political systems: I confess that the unchanging fashions of the Turks and other Eastern peoples do not attract me. It seems that their fashions tend to preserve their stupid despotism. Additionally, there is a long history of fashion in West Africa . Cloth

13200-503: The English word denoting something "in style" dates only to the 16th century. Other words exist related to concepts of style and appeal that precede mode . In the 12th and 13th century Old French the concept of elegance begins to appear in the context of aristocratic preferences to enhance beauty and display refinement, and cointerie , the idea of making oneself more attractive to others by style or artifice in grooming and dress, appears in

13365-527: The Far East. Early Western travellers who visited India , Persia , Turkey , or China , would frequently remark on the absence of change in fashion in those countries. In 1609, the secretary of the Japanese shōgun bragged inaccurately to a Spanish visitor that Japanese clothing had not changed in over a thousand years. However, these conceptions of non-Western clothing undergoing little, if any, evolution are generally held to be untrue; for instance, there

13530-481: The Geneva Conventions by the United States administration. Agamben shows that auctoritas and potestas are clearly distinct – although they form together a binary system". He quotes Mommsen , who explains that auctoritas is "less than an order and more than an advice". While potestas derives from social function, auctoritas "immediately derives from the patres personal condition". As such, it

13695-611: The Latin word 'Facere,' which means 'to make,' and describes the manufacturing, mixing, and wearing of outfits adorned with specific cultural aesthetics, patterns, motifs , shapes, and cuts, allowing people to showcase their group belonging, values, meanings, beliefs, and ways of life. Given the rise in mass production of commodities and clothing at lower prices and global reach, reducing fashion's environmental impact and improving sustainability has become an urgent issue among politicians, brands, and consumers. The French word mode , meaning "fashion", dates as far back as 1482, while

13860-678: The Middle Ages. In his later work, Agamben intervenes in the theoretical debates following the publication of Nancy's essay La communauté désoeuvrée (1983), and Maurice Blanchot 's response, La communauté inavouable (1983). These texts analyzed the notion of community at a time when the European Community was under debate. Agamben proposed his own model of a community which would not presuppose categories of identity in The Coming Community (1990). At this time, Agamben also analyzed

14025-524: The Orient is, static and unanimous, separate, eccentric, backward, silently different, sensual, and passive. It has a tendency towards despotism and away from progress. [...] Its progress and value are judged in comparison to the West, so it is the Other. Many rigorous scholars [...] saw the Orient as a locale requiring Western attention, reconstruction, even redemption. Similar ideas were also applied to other countries in

14190-486: The Roman Empire, a man who committed a certain kind of crime was banned from society and all of his rights as a citizen were revoked. He thus became a " homo sacer " (sacred man). In consequence, he could be killed by anybody, while his life on the other hand was deemed "sacred", so he could not be sacrificed in a ritual ceremony. Although Roman law no longer applied to someone deemed a Homo sacer , they remained "under

14355-462: The Victorian era, most women did not wear blouses under their saris, which did not suit the Victorian society; however, British and Indian fashion would be influenced by each other in following decades. In the 1920s, the nationalists adopted Khadi cloth as a symbol of resistance; here, Gandhi became the face of the resistance which made people spin, weave, and wear their Khadi. Today, the salwaar-kameez

14520-639: The ankle on up to the knee, never above. Day wear had sleeves (long to mid-bicep) and a skirt that was straight, pleated, hank hemmed, or tiered. Jewelry was not conspicuous. Hair was often bobbed, giving a boyish look. In the early twenty-first century a diverse range of styles exists in fashion, varying by geography, exposure to modern media, economic conditions, and ranging from expensive haute couture , to traditional garb, to thrift store grunge . Fashion shows are events for designers to show off new and often extravagant designs. Although mechanization transformed most aspects of human clothing industry , by

14685-575: The archives of the Bibliothèque nationale de France . Benjamin had left these manuscripts to Georges Bataille when he fled Paris shortly before his death. The most relevant of these to Agamben's own later work were Benjamin's manuscripts for his theses On the Concept of History . Agamben has engaged since the nineties in a debate with the political writings of the German jurist Carl Schmitt , most extensively in

14850-439: The body. It can protect feet from injury and discomfort or facilitate navigation in varied environments. Clothing also provides protection from ultraviolet radiation . It may be used to prevent glare or increase visual acuity in harsh environments, such as brimmed hats. Clothing is used for protection against injury in specific tasks and occupations, sports, and warfare. Fashioned with pockets, belts , or loops, clothing may provide

15015-400: The boundaries of humanity, under the exception laws of Schutzhaft . Where law is based on vague, unspecific concepts such as "race" or "good morals," law and the personal subjectivity of the judicial agent are no longer distinct. In the process of creating a state of exception these effects can compound. In a realized state of exception, one who has been accused of committing a crime, within

15180-444: The case of images from the 15th century. Initially, changes in fashion led to a fragmentation across the upper classes of Europe of what had previously been a very similar style of dressing and the subsequent development of distinctive national styles. These national styles remained very different until a counter-movement in the 17th to 18th centuries imposed similar styles once again, mostly originating from Ancien Régime France. Though

15345-797: The centuries, spreading Western culture and styles, most recently as Western media corporations have penetrated markets throughout the world. Fast fashion clothing has also become a global phenomenon. These garments are less expensive, mass-produced Western clothing. Also, donated used clothing from Western countries is delivered to people in poor countries by charity organizations. People may wear ethnic or national dress on special occasions or in certain roles or occupations. For example, most Korean men and women have adopted Western-style dress for daily wear, but still wear traditional hanboks on special occasions, such as weddings and cultural holidays. Also, items of Western dress may be worn or accessorized in distinctive, non-Western ways. A Tongan man may combine

15510-451: The chest to make it look bigger. This created the distinctive Western outline of a tailored top worn over leggings or trousers. The pace of change accelerated considerably in the following century, and women's and men's fashion, especially in the dressing and adorning of the hair, became equally complex. Art historians are, therefore, able to use fashion with confidence and precision to date images, often to within five years, particularly in

15675-545: The chest, and boxy leather reefer jackets were popular on both sides of the Atlantic. Fashion is inherently a social phenomenon . A person cannot have a fashion by oneself, but for something to be defined as fashion, there needs to be dissemination and followers. This dissemination can take several forms; from the top-down ("trickle-down") to bottom-up ("bubble up/trickle-up"), or transversally across cultures and through viral memes and media ("trickle-across"). Fashion relates to

15840-579: The cloth. Many people wore, and still wear, garments consisting of rectangles of cloth wrapped to fit – for example, the dhoti for men and the sari for women in the Indian subcontinent , the Scottish kilt , and the Javanese sarong . The clothes may be tied up (dhoti and sari) or implement pins or belts to hold the garments in place (kilt and sarong). The cloth remains uncut, and people of various sizes can wear

16005-496: The clothes manufactured in Vietnam, finished in Italy, and shipped to a warehouse in the United States for distribution to retail outlets internationally. The fashion industry has for a long time been one of the largest employers in the United States, and it remains so in the 21st century. However, U.S. employment in fashion began to decline considerably as production increasingly moved overseas, especially to China. Because data regarding

16170-522: The clothing of Judah and Tamar , Mordecai and Esther . Furthermore, the priests officiating in the Temple in Jerusalem had very specific garments, the lack of which made one liable to death. [REDACTED] = Day (before 6 p.m.) [REDACTED] = Evening (after 6 p.m.)     = Bow tie colour [REDACTED] = Ladies [REDACTED] = Gentlemen The Western dress code has changed over

16335-527: The clothing; perhaps cutting triangular pieces from one corner of the cloth, and adding them elsewhere as gussets . Traditional European patterns for shirts and chemises take this approach. These remnants can also be reused to make patchwork pockets, hats, vests , and skirts . Modern European fashion treats cloth much less conservatively, typically cutting in such a way as to leave various odd-shaped cloth remnants. Industrial sewing operations sell these as waste; domestic sewers may turn them into quilts . In

16500-460: The concept of privacy comes in to play." If human beings were or had to be this or that substance , this or that destiny, no ethical experience would be possible… This does not mean, however, that humans are not, and do not have to be, something, that they are simply consigned to nothingness and therefore can freely decide whether to be or not to be, to adopt or not to adopt this or that destiny (nihilism and decisionism coincide at this point). There

16665-548: The concepts of the state of exception , form-of-life (borrowed from Ludwig Wittgenstein ) and homo sacer . The concept of biopolitics (carried forth from the work of Michel Foucault ) informs many of his writings. Agamben was educated at the University of Rome , where in 1965 he wrote an unpublished laurea thesis on the political thought of Simone Weil . Agamben participated in Martin Heidegger 's Le Thor seminars (on Heraclitus and Hegel ) in 1966 and 1968. In

16830-472: The cut and style of which had little cause to change over a number of centuries. Though there had been distribution of dressed dolls from France since the 16th century and Abraham Bosse had produced engravings of fashion in the 1620s, the pace of change picked up in the 1780s with increased publication of French engravings illustrating the latest Paris styles. By 1800, all Western Europeans were dressing alike (or thought they were); local variation became first

16995-446: The cut of a gentleman's coat and the length of his waistcoat, or the pattern to which a lady's dress was cut, changed more slowly. Men's fashions were primarily derived from military models, and changes in a European male silhouette were galvanized in theaters of European war where gentleman officers had opportunities to make notes of different styles such as the "Steinkirk" cravat or necktie. Both parties wore shirts under their clothing,

17160-616: The declaration of the Italian National Research Council (NRC), according to which 'there is no SARS-CoV2 epidemic in Italy.' and 'the infection, according to the epidemiological data available as of today and based on tens of thousands of cases, causes light/moderate symptoms (a variant of flu) in 80–90% of cases. In 10–15%, there is a chance of pneumonia, but which also has a benign outcome in the large majority of cases. We estimate that only 4% of patients require intensive therapy. ' " Agamben argued that “the health emergency

17325-463: The differences in his actual (or composite) contrast of Nuremberg and Venetian fashions at the close of the 15th century (illustration, right). The "Spanish style" of the late 16th century began the move back to synchronicity among upper-class Europeans, and after a struggle in the mid-17th century, French styles decisively took over leadership, a process completed in the 18th century. Though different textile colors and patterns changed from year to year,

17490-411: The distance between an individual and his society". American sociologist Diana Crane also mentioned in her book that fashion is closely intertwined with personal and group identity, serving as a means of expressing cultural, social, and political affiliations. Changes in clothing often took place at times of economic or social change, as occurred in ancient Rome and the medieval Caliphate , followed by

17655-597: The distinction of what is fashion themselves. Whereas a trend often connotes a peculiar aesthetic expression, often lasting shorter than a season and being identifiable by visual extremes, fashion is a distinctive and industry-supported expression traditionally tied to the fashion season and collections . Style is an expression that lasts over many seasons and is often connected to cultural movements and social markers , symbols, class, and culture (such as Baroque and Rococo ). According to sociologist Pierre Bourdieu , fashion connotes "the latest difference." Even though

17820-513: The earliest human adoption of clothing. This date, at which the body louse ( P. humanus corporis ) diverged from both its parent species and its sibling subspecies, the head louse ( P. humanus capitis ), can be determined by the number of mutations each has developed during the intervening time. Such mutations occur at a known rate and the date of last-common-ancestor for two species can therefore be estimated from their frequency. These studies have produced dates from 40,000 to 170,000 years ago, with

17985-607: The early 2020s , stetsons , white baseball jerseys with bold red or blue pinstripes , striped blue neckties , baggy white pants , Union Jack motifs, flared jeans , duster coats as worn in the Yellowstone TV series, preppy style college sweaters , retro blue and white striped football shirts , chelsea boots with cowboy boot styling, two-button blazers with red and blue boating stripes, V-neck sweater vests , royal blue baseball jackets with white sleeves, Howler Brothers gilets , shirts and suits worn open to expose

18150-421: The emergence of industrialism , the power of the guilds was undermined. Before the mid-19th century, most clothing was custom-made . It was handmade for individuals, either as home production or on order from dressmakers and tailors. By the beginning of the 20th century, with the rise of new technologies such as the sewing machine , the rise of global trade, the development of the factory system of production, and

18315-520: The fascist Duce or the Nazi Führer , it is important not to forget their continuity with the principle of auctoritas principis {Agamben refers here to Augustus's Res Gestae }. ...Neither does the Duce nor the Führer represent constitutionally defined public charges – even though Mussolini and Hitler endorsed respectively the charge of head of government and Reich's chancellor, just as Augustus endorsed

18480-405: The fashion industry consist of many separate but interdependent sectors. These sectors include textile design and production, fashion design and manufacturing, fashion retailing, marketing and merchandising , fashion shows , and media and marketing. Each sector is devoted to the goal of satisfying consumer demand for apparel under conditions that enable participants in the industry to operate at

18645-404: The fashion industry typically are reported for national economies and expressed in terms of the industry's many separate sectors, aggregate figures for the world production of textiles and clothing are difficult to obtain. However, by any measure, the clothing industry accounts for a significant share of world economic output. The fashion industry consists of four levels: The levels of focus in

18810-666: The field of Environmental Physiology had advanced and expanded significantly, but the science of clothing in relation to environmental physiology had changed little. There has since been considerable research, and the knowledge base has grown significantly, but the main concepts remain unchanged, and indeed, Newburgh's book continues to be cited by contemporary authors, including those attempting to develop thermoregulatory models of clothing development. Clothing reveals much about human history. According to Professor Kiki Smith of Smith College, garments preserved in collections are resources for study similar to books and paintings. Scholars around

18975-462: The functional need for clothing. For example, coats , hats, gloves, and other outer layers are normally removed when entering a warm place. Similarly, clothing has seasonal and regional aspects so that thinner materials and fewer layers of clothing generally are worn in warmer regions and seasons than in colder ones. Boots, hats, jackets, ponchos, and coats designed to protect from rain and snow are specialized clothing items. Clothing has been made from

19140-405: The garment. Another approach involves measuring, cutting, and sewing the cloth by hand or with a sewing machine . Clothing can be cut from a sewing pattern and adjusted by a tailor to the wearer's measurements. An adjustable sewing mannequin or dress form is used to create form-fitting clothing. If the fabric is expensive, the tailor tries to use every bit of the cloth rectangle in constructing

19305-453: The inclusion of life by right under the figure of "ex-ception", which is simultaneously inclusion and exclusion. Following Walter Benjamin's lead, he explains that our task would be to radically differentiate "pure violence" from right, instead of tying them together, as did Carl Schmitt. Agamben concludes his chapter on " Auctoritas and potestas " writing: It is significative that modern specialists were so inclined to admit that auctoritas

19470-475: The latest trends, but may often reference fashions of a previous era, leading to the reappearance of fashions from a different time period. While what is fashionable can be defined by a relatively insular, esteemed and often rich aesthetic elite who make a look exclusive, such as fashion houses and haute couturiers , this 'look' is often designed by pulling references from subcultures and social groups who are not considered elite, and are thus excluded from making

19635-406: The legal system, loses the ability to use his/her voice and represent themselves. The individual can not only be deprived of their citizenship, but also of any form of agency over their own life. "Agamben identifies the state of exception with the power of decision over life." Within the state of exception, the distinction between bios (the life of the citizen) and zoê (the life of homo sacer )

19800-625: The mid-twentieth century, garment workers have continued to labor under challenging conditions that demand repetitive manual labor. Often, mass-produced clothing is made in what are considered by some to be sweatshops , typified by long work hours, lack of benefits, and lack of worker representation. While most examples of such conditions are found in developing countries , clothes made in industrialized nations may also be manufactured under similar conditions. Coalitions of NGOs, designers (including Katharine Hamnett, American Apparel , Veja , Quiksilver , eVocal, and Edun), and campaign groups such as

19965-412: The modern state, but has essentially existed since the beginnings of sovereignty in the West, since this structure of ex-ception is essential to the core concept of sovereignty. In this book, Agamben traces the concept of ' state of exception ' ( Ausnahmezustand ) used by Carl Schmitt to Roman justitium and auctoritas . This leads him to a response to Carl Schmitt's definition of sovereignty as

20130-592: The most elementary principles'. Agamben turns to the Franciscans to survey a unique historical incident of a group organising itself with a rule that is their life, and thinking of their own lives not as their own possession but as a communal 'use'; he examines the ways in which this idea developed and how it eventually lapsed into the law of the Catholic Church . According to reviewer Nathan Schneider , " The Highest Poverty examines two medieval Christian attempts, in

20295-454: The most significant fashion companies and are renowned for their major influence on global fashion. Fashion weeks are held in these cities, where designers exhibit their new clothing collections to audiences. A study demonstrated that general proximity to New York's Garment District was important to participate in the American fashion ecosystem. Haute couture has now largely been subsidized by

20460-410: The music video 'Formation' by Beyoncé , according to Carlos, The annual or seasonal runway show is a reflection of fashion trends and a designer's inspirations. For designers like Vivienne Westwood , runway shows are a platform for her voice on politics and current events. For her AW15 menswear show, according to Water, "where models with severely bruised faces channeled eco-warriors on a mission to save

20625-427: The name of eternal life, to live this life beyond the reach of ordinary politics: several centuries of monasticism, and then the brief and momentous epiphany in the movement founded by Francis of Assisi. Each, according to Agamben, fails in revealing ways." Giorgio Agamben is particularly critical of the United States' response to 11 September 2001 , and its instrumentalization as a permanent condition that legitimizes

20790-451: The nineteenth century as European colonial powers interacted with new environments such as tropical ones in Asia. Some scientific research into the multiple functions of clothing in the first half of the twentieth century, with publications such as J.C. Flügel 's Psychology of Clothes in 1930, and Newburgh's seminal Physiology of Heat Regulation and The Science of Clothing in 1949. By 1968,

20955-474: The officials were also required to wear Western suits. In this way, the Japanese slowly adopted into Western fashion. Moreover, like India, different Japanese religions wear different pieces of clothing. In its most common use, the term fashion refers to the current expressions on sale through the fashion industry. The global fashion industry is a product of the modern age. In the Western world, tailoring has since medieval times been controlled by guilds , but with

21120-677: The ontological condition and "political" attitude of Bartleby (from Herman Melville 's short story) – a scrivener who "prefers not" to write. Currently, Agamben is teaching at Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio ( Università della Svizzera Italiana ) and has taught at the Università IUAV di Venezia , the Collège international de Philosophie in Paris, and the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee , Switzerland; he previously taught at

21285-418: The past 500+ years. The mechanization of the textile industry made many varieties of cloth widely available at affordable prices. Styles have changed, and the availability of synthetic fabrics has changed the definition of what is "stylish". In the latter half of the twentieth century, blue jeans became very popular, and are now worn to events that normally demand formal attire. Activewear has also become

21450-399: The person detaining auctoritas —the sovereign— public life and private life have become inseparable. Augustus , the first Roman emperor who claimed auctoritas as the basis of princeps status in a famous passage of Res Gestae , had opened up his house to public eyes. In his theorization of thanatopolitics (the politics of death), Agamben uses the English and Roman examples to show how

21615-429: The planet." Another recent example is a staged feminist protest march for Chanel's SS15 show, rioting models chanting words of empowerment using signs like "Feminist but feminine" and "Ladies first." According to Water, "The show tapped into Chanel's long history of championing female independence: founder Coco Chanel was a trailblazer for liberating the female body in the post-WWI era, introducing silhouettes that countered

21780-512: The power and voice of authority over others extended well beyond where the law has existed in the past. "In every case, the state of exception marks a threshold at which logic and praxis blur with each other and a pure violence without logos claims to realize an enunciation without any real reference" (Agamben, pg 40). Agamben refers a continued state of exception to the Nazi state of Germany under Hitler's rule. "The entire Third Reich can be considered

21945-445: The power to proclaim the exception. Agamben's text State of Exception investigates the increase of power by governments which they employ in supposed times of crisis. Within a state of emergency, Agamben refers to the states of exception, where constitutional rights can be diminished, superseded and rejected in the process of claiming this extension of power by a government. The state of exception invests one person or government with

22110-564: The procedure was reserved to criminals; to the contrary, today's society is tending toward a generalization of this procedure to all citizens, placing the population under permanent suspicion and surveillance : "The political body thus has become a criminal body". And Agamben notes that the Jews deportation in France and other occupied countries was made possible by the photos taken from identity cards . Furthermore, Agamben's political criticisms open up in

22275-555: The proliferation of retail outlets such as department stores, clothing became increasingly mass-produced in standard sizes and sold at fixed prices. Although the fashion industry developed first in Europe and America, as of 2017, it is an international and highly globalized industry, with clothing often designed in one country, manufactured in another, and sold worldwide. For example, an American fashion company might source fabric in China and have

22440-505: The proper" that, according to an expression of Friedrich Hölderlin 's, is "the most difficult task." Following the same trend, he employs, among others, the following to describe the "watershed of whatever": Other themes addressed in The Coming Community include the commodification of the body, evil, and the messianic. Unlike other continental philosophers he does not reject the dichotomies of subject/object and potentiality/actuality outright, but rather turns them inside-out, pointing out

22605-484: The properties in favor of an insipid generality (universal love): The lover wants the loved one with all of its predicates , its being such as it is. Similarly, Agamben discusses "ease" as the “place” of love, or more precisely, love as the encounter with a unique moment (“love as the experience of taking-place in a whatever singularity"), which resonates with his utilization of the concept of "use" in his later writings. In this sense, ease names perfectly that "free use of

22770-529: The qualitative Ancient Greek concept of kairos , meaning "the right, critical, or opportune moment", and clothing to the quantitative concept of chronos , the personification of chronological or sequential time. While some exclusive brands may claim the label haute couture , in France, the term is technically limited to members of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in Paris. Haute couture

22935-609: The reorganization of constitutional balance. Agamben often reminds that Hitler never abrogated the Weimar Constitution : he suspended it for the duration of the Third Reich with the Reichstag Fire Decree , issued on 28 February 1933. Indefinite suspension of law is what characterizes the state of exception. The English edition was translated by Adam Kotsko. In this study of medieval monastic rules, Agamben offers

23100-412: The restrictive corsets then in favour." Clothing Clothing serves many purposes: it can serve as protection from the elements, rough surfaces, sharp stones, rash-causing plants, and insect bites, by providing a barrier between the skin and the environment. Clothing can insulate against cold or hot conditions, and it can provide a hygienic barrier, keeping infectious and toxic materials away from

23265-488: The rich usually led fashion, the increasing affluence of early modern Europe led to the bourgeoisie and even peasants following trends at a distance, but still uncomfortably close for the elites – a factor that Fernand Braudel regards as one of the main motors of changing fashion. In the 16th century , national differences were at their most pronounced. Ten 16th century portraits of German or Italian gentlemen may show ten entirely different hats. Albrecht Dürer illustrated

23430-512: The sale of ready-to-wear collections and perfume using the same branding. Modern Westerners have a vast number of choices in the selection of their clothes. What a person chooses to wear can reflect their personality or interests. When people who have high cultural status start to wear new or different styles, they may inspire a new fashion trend. People who like or respect these people are influenced by their style and begin wearing similarly styled clothes. Fashions may vary considerably within

23595-406: The same time gaining power over it by making it the subject of political control. The power of law to actively separate "political" beings (citizens) from "bare life" (bodies) has carried on from Antiquity to Modernity – literally from Aristotle to Auschwitz . Aristotle, as Agamben notes, constitutes political life via a simultaneous inclusion and exclusion of "bare life": as Aristotle says, man

23760-502: The social and cultural context of an environment. According to Matika, "Elements of popular culture become fused when a person's trend is associated with a preference for a genre of music […] like music, news, or literature, fashion has been fused into everyday lives." Fashion is not only seen as purely aesthetic; fashion is also a medium for people to create an overall effect and express their opinions and overall art. This mirrors what performers frequently accomplish through music videos. In

23925-477: The sovereign justifies authority by his claimed ability to control or manage his own death. Agamben writes that the rituals of two deaths by the sovereign (as an ordinary human and then as effigy) demonstrate that death rituals show the people that the sovereign is in control of both lives. The concept of auctoritas played a key-role in fascism and Nazism , in particular concerning Carl Schmitt's theories, argues Agamben: To understand modern phenomena such as

24090-471: The spell" of law. This means that "human life" is "included in the juridical order solely in the form of its exclusion (that is, of its capacity to be killed)". Homo sacer was therefore both excluded from law and included at the same time. This paradoxical figure of homo sacer is the exact mirror image of the sovereign ( basileus ) – a king, emperor, or president – who stands, on the one hand, within law (so he can be condemned, e.g., for treason, as

24255-406: The start of Western fashion in clothing to the middle of the 14th century , though they tend to rely heavily on contemporary imagery, as illuminated manuscripts were not common before the 14th century. The most dramatic early change in fashion was a sudden drastic shortening and tightening of the male over-garment from calf-length to barely covering the buttocks, sometimes accompanied with stuffing in

24420-631: The state of exception, as suggested in Guantánamo Bay prison, also operate outside the law. In the case of the hunger strike, the prisoners were threatened and endured force feeding not allowing them to die. During the hunger strikes at Guantánamo Bay prison, accusations and founded claims of forced feedings began to surface in the autumn of 2005. In February 2006, The New York Times reported that prisoners were being force fed in Guantánamo Bay prison and in March 2006, more than 250 medical experts, as reported by

24585-489: The state of exception, places one government—or one form or branch of government—as all powerful, operating outside the laws. During such times of extension of power, certain forms of knowledge shall be privileged and accepted as true and certain voices shall be heard as valued, while of course, many others are not. This oppressive distinction holds great importance in relation to the production of knowledge. The process of both acquiring knowledge, and suppressing certain knowledge,

24750-457: The study State of Exception (2003). His recent writings also elaborate on the concepts of Michel Foucault, whom he calls "a scholar from whom I have learned a great deal in recent years". Agamben's political thought was founded on his readings of Aristotle 's Politics , Nicomachean Ethics , and treatise On the Soul , as well as the exegetical traditions concerning these texts in late antiquity and

24915-409: The term 'form-of-life' throughout the development of monastic life, beginning with the establishment of a genre of written rules in the fourth century. The aim of the book is to differentiate between 'law' and a particular use of rule that is opposite to the implementation of law. In order to sketch out the potential of this concept, we would need 'a theory of use – of which Western philosophy lacks even

25080-470: The terms fashion , clothing and costume are often used together, fashion differs from both. Clothing describes the material and the technical garment, devoid of any social meaning or connections; costume has come to mean fancy dress or masquerade wear. Fashion, by contrast, describes the social and temporal system that influences and "activates" dress as a social signifier in a certain time and context. Philosopher Giorgio Agamben connects fashion to

25245-401: The thousands of years that humans have been making clothing, they have created an astonishing array of styles, many of which have been reconstructed from surviving garments, photographs, paintings, mosaics , etc., as well as from written descriptions. Costume history can inspire current fashion designers, as well as costumiers for plays, films, television, and historical reenactment . Comfort

25410-432: The treaty. The production of textiles has functioned as a consistent industry for developing nations, providing work and wages, whether construed as exploitative or not, to millions of people. Giorgio Agamben Giorgio Agamben ( / ə ˈ ɡ æ m b ə n / ə- GAM -bən ; Italian: [ˈdʒordʒo aˈɡamben] ; born 22 April 1942) is an Italian philosopher best known for his work investigating

25575-454: The volumes of which have been published out of order, and which include: In 2017, these works were collected and published as The Omnibus Homo Sacer . In the final volume of the series, Agamben intends to address "the concepts of forms-of-life and lifestyles." "What I call a form-of-life," he explains, "is a life which can never be separated from its form, a life in which it is never possible to separate something like bare life. […] [H]ere too

25740-481: The wearer's bare shoulder, thigh, or midriff , such as low-cut waists on the pants or tops with strappy necklines intended to be worn braless . Desirable colours included neon green, watermelon green, coral pink , orange, salmon pink , magenta , gold , electric blue , aquamarine , cyan , turquoise , and royal blue . In 2023, the predominant colours in Britain, France and America were red, white and blue. As in

25905-416: The wearer's body shape, or whether the garment has been washed, folded, mended, or is new. Fashion is defined in a number of different ways, and its application can be sometimes unclear. Though the term fashion connotes difference, as in "the new fashions of the season", it can also connote sameness, for example in reference to "the fashions of the 1960s", implying a general uniformity. Fashion can signify

26070-468: The world have studied a wide range of clothing topics, including the history of specific items of clothing, clothing styles in different cultural groups, and the business of clothing and fashion. The textile curator Linda Baumgarten writes that "clothing provides a remarkable picture of the daily lives, beliefs, expectations, and hopes of those who lived in the past. Clothing presents a number of challenges to historians. Clothing made of textiles or skins

26235-553: The zone where they become indistinguishable. Matter that does not remain beneath form, but surrounds it with a halo. The political task of humanity, he argues, is to expose the innate potential in this zone of indistinguishability. And although criticised as dreaming the impossible by certain authors, he nonetheless shows a concrete example of whatever singularity acting politically: Whatever singularity, which wants to appropriate belonging itself, its own being-in-language, and thus rejects all identity and every condition of belonging,

26400-404: Was brought by rapid commercialization. Clothing which experienced fast changing fashion in ancient China was recorded in ancient Chinese texts, where it was sometimes referred as shiyang , "contemporary-styles", and was associated with the concept of fuyao , "outrageous dress", which typically holds a negative connotation. Similar changes in clothing can be seen in Japanese clothing between

26565-669: Was close to the poets Giorgio Caproni and José Bergamín , and to the Italian novelist Elsa Morante , to whom he devoted the essays "The Celebration of the Hidden Treasure" (in The End of the Poem ) and "Parody" (in Profanations ). He has been a friend and collaborator to such eminent intellectuals as Pier Paolo Pasolini (in whose The Gospel According to St. Matthew he played the part of Philip ), Italo Calvino (with whom he collaborated, for

26730-424: Was expected for people to be dressed accordingly to their gender, social status and occupation; the Chinese clothing system had cleared evolution and varied in appearance in each period of history. However, ancient Chinese fashion, like in other cultures, was an indicator of the socioeconomic conditions of its population; for Confucian scholars, however, changing fashion was often associated with social disorder which

26895-546: Was inherent to the living person of the pater or the princeps . What was evidently an ideology or a fictio aiming to be the groundwork of auctoritas' preeminence or, at least, specific rank compared to potestas thus became a figure of right's {"droit"} immanence to life. ... Although it is evident that there can't be an eternal human type that would incarnate itself each time in Augustus, Napoleon, Hitler, but only more or less comparable ("semblables") mechanisms {"dispositif",

27060-583: Was the name established by the government for the fashion houses that met the standards of the industry. These fashion houses continue to adhere to standards such as keeping at least twenty employees engaged in making the clothes, showing two collections per year at fashion shows, and presenting a certain number of patterns to costumers. Since then, the idea of the fashion designer as a celebrity in their own right has become increasingly dominant. Although fashion can be feminine or masculine, additional trends are androgynous . The idea of unisex dressing originated in

27225-756: Was used as a form of currency in trade with the Portuguese and Dutch as early as the 16th century, and locally produced cloth and cheaper European imports were assembled into new styles to accommodate the growing elite class of West Africans and resident gold and slave traders. There was an exceptionally strong tradition of weaving in the Oyo Empire , and the areas inhabited by the Igbo people . The beginning in Europe of continual and accelerating change in clothing styles can be fairly reliably dated to late medieval times . Historians, including James Laver and Fernand Braudel , date

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