The fashion system that operates in America is global and has been for centuries. In the U.S. and elsewhere, it is driven by a complex mix of factors that includes social and cultural identity, class, race, economics, politics, geography, aesthetics, and media. Americans, through their economic clout as much as their tastes, heavily influenced the system as it developed through the 19th-21st centuries, although the U.S. is now jockeying for position alongside powerful voices coming from Asia and Africa. Our media-driven worship of celebrities, the unattainable aesthetic ideals projected by fashion media, and our interest in sustainability coupled with our embrace of fast fashion, are just some of the conflicting forces at work in today’s fashion landscape. This class will examine some of the reasons fashion in America is as it is, looking at a wide variety of the forces and hot-button topics governing fashion at present. Topics include historical system developments, economics, sustainability, technology, fashion media, politics, and celebrity. This is an upper-level undergraduate seminar. Extensive outside reading, an organized class presentation, and active participation in class discussions are required. Previous study of fashion design or history is not required but may be helpful.HAAVC 2000 courses develop students' visual analysis skills while providing the opportunity for in-depth study of the visual/structural artifacts associated with a particular topic, region, or movement. Students will also engage with the relevant primary/secondary literature for the topic at hand. Courses will pay particular attention to the larger cultural, historical, and theoretical/ideological contexts in which the visual artifacts and structures under consideration were created.

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