The Routledge Companion to Fashion and Business
Natascha Radclyffe-Thomas editor Babette Radclyffe-Thomas editor
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Publishing:10th Jun '26
£245.00
This title is due to be published on 10th June, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
The Routledge Companion to Fashion and Business brings together the latest research in one authoritative volume and engages with the past, present and future of fashion business to explore current and emerging issues. Fashion has expanded its reach into every area of our lives, satisfying a human desire for novelty and expression through self-adornment. Yet overproduction and lack of self-regulation has resulted in an industry previously renowned for its creativity and influence, now making headlines because of its negative environmental and social impacts. Fashion businesses and their customers have shown a desire to move towards a more sustainable, circular fashion system necessitating changes in design, production, promotion, retail, and life-cycle management. Fashion straddles many disciplines including design, economics, psychology, marketing, management and retail, sociology, material and cultural studies, human geography and business ethics. Six thematic sections illustrate the breadth and significance of the fashion industry written by those actively and currently engaged in its creation, management and critique.
Section 1 introduces the economic history of fashion and the significance of the textiles industry as a driver of industrialisation. Section 2 introduces key concepts in fashion psychology, consumer behaviour and trend prediction as well as contemporary fashion promotion platforms and practices. Section 3 explores the links between fashion and place, the changing landscape of fashion retail and the contribution of cultural heritage to emerging economies. Section 4 shows how the past influences today’s fashion business through archives and exhibits, secondhand vintage and charity retail, reproduction of historical dress, and circular fashion initiatives. Section 5 highlights fashion’s environmental and social impacts reflecting on how fashion activism, regulations, policies and emergent practices can deliver a more sustainable fashion industry. The final section comprises contributions from activists, entrepreneurs and individuals at the cutting edge of fashion business offering an engaging collection of opinion pieces that reimagine the future of fashion business.
With contributions from a range of highly esteemed international academics, cultural commentators and industry insiders, The Routledge Companion to Fashion and Business is an authoritative reference work for scholars, students and practitioners.
"This is a truly comprehensive collection of case studies, industry insights and academic essays covering the breadth of fashion and business. It is impressive in terms of its extensiveness and the number of global thought leaders from industry and academia who have contributed to this companion, making it a ‘go to’ read for students, academics and practitioners working in the field of fashion and business. The book covers all the topics which might be expected in a fashion and business companion text, yet takes a contemporary interpretation of them including economics, marketing, cultures, business models, consumer behaviour and more, as well as introducing some of the unique current issues and challenges for fashion including sustainability, resale and digital fashion."
Professor Liz Barnes, Head of Manchester Fashion Institute, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
"The Routledge Companion to Business and Fashion offers an unparalleled breadth of analysis across the world-spanning system of fashion. Across over 60 chapters, the book’s thematics include the economics of fashion, its trends and consumer psychology, fashion cultures, fashion places, and sustainability.
This is an essential book for fashion professionals, researchers and students, providing insights across the business, culture, and economies of fashion production. The book includes a diversity of voices: academics, industry professionals, and activists from around the world.
There are contributions on the fashion systems and businesses from Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America, extending from reflections on the new influencers of K-pop idols, to craft in India, to doing fashion business in Africa, to explorations of the fashion cities of South America and Europe.
Central to the book is the acknowledgement that the current system cannot continue in its present form. It includes powerful perspectives from those calling for new fashion business models founded on care and regeneration, as well as practical cases of circularity in action and the innovative materials disrupting business-as-usual.
The book is an extraordinary collation of leading thinkers in fashion business, and will prove inspirational and timely for all interested in the present state and future directions of the industry."
Professor Alice Payne, Dean, School of Fashion & Textiles, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
ISBN: 9781032827261
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
552 pages