Global Chic The Globalization Of Fashion - 3361 Words

Ana Pascual-Leone Capstone Draft November 5, 2014 Global Chic: The Globalization of Fashion Abstract: This paper aims to investigate the effects of globalization, examined through the framework of hybridity/glocalization, on the fashion industry by examining the shift in the nature of ethnic, cultural and national references in high-end designer collections, and the growth of fast-fashion houses’ global success. High-end designers have been using cultural references as their inspiration for decades. However, the increasingly globalized world has changed the nature of cultural references. There has been a shift away from collections being inspired by one country or culture, towards a multicultural influence. Driven by the idea that†¦show more content†¦Philosophy, religion, language, the arts, and other aspects of culture spread and mixed as nations exchanged products and ideas. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Europeans made valuable discoveries in their exploration of oceans, including the start of transatlantic travel to the New World. Global movement of people, good s, and ideas expanded radically in the following centuries. Early in the 19th century, the development of new forms of transportation, such as the steamship and railroads, and telecommunications that compressed time and space allowed for increasingly rapid rates of global interchange. In the 20th century, automobiles, intermodal transport, and airlines made transportation even more rapid. The advent of electronic communications, most notably mobile phones and the Internet, connected billions of people in innovative ways over the past two decades. Globalization is a phenomenon that has been on the forefront of the international arena for decades. With innovative technological advancements, national lines that previously identified and differentiated countries are constantly being blurred. Cultural globalization has increased cross-cultural contacts however it is also accompanied by a decrease in the uniqueness of once-isolated communities. For example, Sushi is available in Germany and Italy as well as Japan, and Starbucks has become a recognizable household brand on all continents. This phenomenon is not only applicable to food but to all aspects of