Fashion and society
This research group studies fashion with cultural and social science perspectives in relation to society. More specifically, we are interested in how fashion is created, aestheticised, reproduced, and interpreted by various actors, including marketers, creators, and consumers, through different practices and processes. Consumption is a key element here and also one of the main drivers of fashion. We are also interested in organisation and management in the fashion industry as well as various interactions between companies and other actors (including non-human). The focus here is on studying how fashion companies navigate a complex reality, where new competencies, strategies, and ways of organising and marketing are continuously emerging.
More knowledge is needed about how fashion is communicated and marketed and how the fashion industry is organised. Marketing and fashion-driven consumption are associated with growth, prosperity, and experiences and are a central part of how people today create meaning, context, and identity. At the same time, the fashion industry has environmental and human impacts that are not all positive. Different aspects of sustainability, such as its ecological, economic, cultural, and social dimensions, linked to the marketing and consumption of fashion as well as the organisation of the fashion industry are not only important but necessary to study. Multiple perspectives, theories, and methods are needed to understand something as multifaceted as the fashion industry. Therefore, interdisciplinary research involving the perspectives of different disciplines is important in the research group. We seek to reach out to other researchers and society at large. We consider it important that organisations, authorities, politicians, and the public take note of our research results.
The research group is placed under the University of Borås’s priority research area Textiles and Fashion. Research is carried out in different perspectives in different scientific disciplines, mainly in business administration, as well as in collaboration between them.
Research group leader
Karin M Ekström
Professor
033-435 4516
