Fashioning London

Fashioning London charts the history of clothing in England’s capital through its manufacture, promotion, cultural significance, and the unique styles of dress that, ultimately, challenged the fashion dominance of Paris, Milan and New York.

Over the past three centuries, London has established itself as one of the world’s most inventive fashion capitals. Drawing on a range of sources, including paintings, street photography, maps, tourist guides, literature, and stage and press representations, Fashioning London paints a vivid and definitive portrait of London's iconoclastic style.

Explore how particular styles of dress became emblematic of this leading international city, ultimately challenging the fashion dominance of Paris, Milan, and New York. Christopher Breward constructs an original history of clothing in London, through its manufacture, promotion, and cultural significance, while examining how issues of space, architecture and performance impinge on notions of fashionability.

You will come away from this text understanding that although city life and fashion have always been intertwined, nowhere has this relationship been more excitingly expressed than on the streets of London.