The fashion designer and history

Since the nineties, the history of fashion has been experimenting with new schemes of interpretation, crossing traditional methods derived from the history of art and design with those of cultural studies. This has offered “a way of studying objects as systems rather than as the simple product of authorship” (Breward 1998). In this sense, the history of fashion has followed the road indicated by the “new art history,” which had brought the concept of authorship into question as far back as the late seventies, preferring interpretations based on the social and political significance of the work of art (Rees, Borzello 1986). By redefining its methodologies and its objectives, the fashion history of the last few decades has acquired a new academic legitimacy, allowing it to play a full part in the critical debate over contemporary culture. However, the emphasis placed on identity and the political and social aspects of fashion has hampered the process of comprehension and revision of the concept of authorship. The history of fashion has traditionally focused on the individual stories of fashion designers, but what they have said and written about themselves and their work has been deliberately ignored. In recent years efforts have been made to remedy this, with growing attention being paid to what fashion designers have to say, although there is still a lot of critical work to be done. This new perspective, which incorporates the words of fashion designers into the history of fashion, brings up new questions of method and content and leads to a positive encounter with the culture of fashion itself.