From High Street to Luxury: The Past, the Present, the Future

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Art and Fashion in the Past
The Present
Art and Fashion Future Prospects
Reference List

Introduction

The debate and analysis of cultural association with fashion has been in existence for quite some time. Social scientists, dominated by sociologists as well as anthropologists, have literally associated the fashion issue with the existing nature of relationship between the groups, citing the inherent similarities and differences. Significantly, the concept of culture and fashion has been revolving around the notion that exists in the society that some cultures are more superior to others, or have superior value than others (DeNora, 1991, p.310). This subsequently leads us to the concept of stratification, which has been historically applied in the art and fashion industry to reproduce and sell the same in a different format. In other words, usually low fashion copies the trends of high fashion to produce in mass every season with the sole motive, making a kill in profits.

Art and Fashion in the Past

A renowned sociologist Herbert Gans subdivides cultures into tastes, which is determined by high culture (Gans, 1986, p.17). According to him, taste is a product of ‘high’ culture, and the participants of ‘low’ culture will do everything to ensure they look like ‘high’ culture participants (Gans, 1986). He divides taste cultures into five broad different categories, by mostly associating the differences in terms of the disciplines (literature, art, consumer pattern etc) and leisure like hobbies. But, despite the fact that this categorization lies in the differences, they belong to the same category. However, several studies have shown that the way people place value on different cultures is not the same, thus leading to a stratified subdivision of high and low culture.

DeNora (1991, p.37) observes that the low and high cultural valuation has an historical perspective, where several nations have had their share of different kinds of maintenance through all kinds of practices at an institutional level. However, a critical look at the two categories of this stratification shows that they are arbitrarily the same since they both entail several types of material possession in the form of goods or art, recycled to portray an imagined difference. Actually the only distinction is in the specific types of the perceived tastes found in the categories. High culture explicitly draws interest among a group of people because of its association with classical music and fine art for example, contrary to low culture that falls outside these specific preferences (DeNora, 1991).

The high value placed on high culture pose several advantages to the participants, especially the ones who intend to take advantage of its economic value. Bourdieu (1977) says that mere involvement in the high culture can be beneficial because of its potentiality to generate profits. DiMaggo (1982) supports Bourdieu’s claim but within a different setting, when he says that even the system of schooling favors the high culture groups of children, who ends up with better performance as compared to those from low culture. In essence this point of arguments may be backed by a common knowledge that pupils in high cultures achieve higher status in the society due to more educational opportunities.

The existing correlation between cultural capital and socioeconomic status has created a sense of class with its own demand for the fashion rejuvenation. In fact, since the cultural possession is a product of socialization, background of the family and community will strongly determine the ability to get opportunities for the increase of capital base through fashion rejuvenation and redesigning Gans (1986, p.18). Practically, the families or communities with minimal income will not have a guaranteed access to fashion in the high cultural setting. On the other hand, the families or group of families endowed with the cultural capital are able to adopt the high cultural lifestyle that comes with the “benefits” of consumption and production. This level of cultural attainment is associated with the individual’s occupation, certain level of educational achievement since this will determine the medium with which the information about fashion is transmitted (Gans, 1986).

This concept draws out the idea of ethnic fashion, and high and low culture. Many ethnic communities may define their fashion in order to obtain cultural capital. According to Boourdieu (1984), taste serves social distinction; it is a means in which social group wields power, which is expressed in a form of a ‘legitimate’ culture that sets itself apart from ‘legitimable’ and ‘illegitimate’ cultural forms (Boourdieu, 1984, p.491). He therefore assumes the existence of a cultural center whose backbone is the educational system while at the same time acknowledging the cultural field dynamic that allows for up and down-market movements (p.493). According to Dick Hebdige, (1979) as cited in Varnedoe & Gopnik, (1990, p.419), fashion designers have decided to adopt the aesthetic version of art, which is a duplication of the original art but with little quality and low value. In actual sense the ongoing changes in our everyday life of fashion simply implies that pure aesthetic transformation is as a result of the easy accessibility of the cultural exploitation. In essence, the ethnic orientation between the low and high cultural membership are based on the assumption of the context of regional disintegration. Europeans and the Americans took the high culture to belong to them while the other parts of the world, mostly in Asia and African took the low culture ladder (Williams, 1989). This kind of ethnic division has been accused of fostering the negative aspect of fashion in the form of discrimination. According to Ostrower & DiMaggio (1990), some of the practices in the high fashion industry left out the African Americans, who resorted to the alternative low cultural activities. For instance, African Americans artists faced segregation in the museums, by either being denied access or giving them limited access, among other forms of discrimination in other sectors like education since the benefits of participation in high culture depended on the race (Shusterman, 1992).

The other thing is the taste that comes with participation in specific cultural groups varies. Historically, Black Americans for instance would attend or participate in several events where Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, and soul were the main form of arts (Ostrower & DiMaggio 1990, p.762’; Redding 1982, p.1198). Since the taste that comes with these forms of music genre are considered identical to the black race, the participants with the commercial motive would recreate the old cultural practices or reproduce for commercial purposes hence generating the so called ‘new style’. In essence, this means that low fashion has been known to copy high fashion in an attempt to reproduce in mass against the quality and originality. In fact, Bourdieu (1977, p.499) asserts that the fundamental elements of the modern society are just a historical shift towards the placement of economic benefits to more significance, i.e. from being a ‘thing in itself’ the economy becomes a ‘thing for itself’.

The Present

In the world of fashion and clothing, the present art transformation is important to note. Fashion and clothing has presented very curious and ambiguous profiles, with one side showing the profiles of the fashioned clothing that looks very attractive in nature, while the other side is full of conservative designs with the past linkage. Barnard (2002) says “News agents’ shelves groan under the weight of style and fashion magazines, which offer glossy advise….on what to look like and how to look like it” (p.1). In the modern fashion industry, a walk down the high street one will not miss noticing malls that are filled with highly valued fashion items, with all the necessary assistance from the shop attendants, who are strategically placed to offer advice on the best fit to match your figure and color. To increase the speed at which the reproduced high fashion products reach the market, the fashion companies have adopted new technology; seen in the increased use of online version of sales. This has generated a kind of easy accessibility to not only the segmented sections of the society but virtually every corner of the world (Copeland & Griggs, 1986). These companies have adopted the technological craze by making their potential clients face their “virtual self” in order to increase sales (Cooper, 1997, p.14; Cramphorn, 1996, p.52).

Media fraternity has not been left out in this strategy. The use of artwork to advertise fashion products on the television screens is one way of emphasizing the aesthetic nature of the products to be sold (Kapferer, 2002). The daily newspapers have a whole coverage of what the people in fashion industry have to say as concerns the fashion designs and the modeling criteria. Some of these models, presenters, and journalists end up as household names, thus offering their endorsements to the products which have become household names in themselves (Barnard, 2002, p.239). To elaborate on this point, it is important to highlight one of the modern fashion personalities, Lily Allen, and her progress in clothing and accessories.

Lily Allen: Lily Loves fashion line

Lily Allen, the musician and an actress is the name behind clothing and accessories with the brand “Lily loves” (The Sunday Times, 2007, p.1). She was hired by the head designer and Director, Karl Lagerfeld to be photographed so that her famous self could be used to promote a luxury line of handbags (p.1). Under her achievements, Allen was awarded with the respected Glamour Woman of the Year Awards from the Editor Special Award; and she got named number nine under the category of the best style role model by the Look magazine (The Sunday Times, 2007, p.2). In many occasions, the reason why Allen was preferred by Lagerfeld to grace such honor of marketing this line of brand is that her style is seen as simple, and not overly trendy in the category of fashion choices as compared to other traditional channel models (Slideshare, 2009). But did Lagerfeld get is right, considering Lily Allen’s image?

In his own words, Lagerfeld (2009, p.1) says, “Fashion’s life is short. It’s six months, six months, six months. It’s not something you do for a great future”. In a micro-research done in May 2009 to find out the branding position that had been taken by Lagerfeld and its implication (Slideshare, 2009, p.1), the findings were rather interesting. The image of the channel was perceived differently according to age groups: women of age group between 18 and 25 acknowledged that it was an exclusively unique brand but was more of older women brand than their age group; women of ages 25-39 agreed that the brand was good, especially on the side of cosmetics and accessories, but the price was a critical issue that concerns them; women over the age of 40 however believed that the brand presented a positive image and that the channel was actually ideal for women (p.1). However, the involvement of Allen revealed some other interesting scenario. Even though younger women of the age 18 to 25 did not change their opinions, the middle aged women (25-39) believed the brand had been rejuvenated while over 40 age groups thought the brand had become more for a younger generation since it became more informal, hence they appear younger unlike before (Slideshare, 2009, p.1). The report showed that Allen portrays an image of younger generation, especially for those who read the gossip columns of the magazines but virtually unknown among the group of women who do not read the gossip columns, classified as high class (pp.1&2). The group of women who do not read the gossip column are on the other hand classified as middle class and their choices are always influenced by what they read, on the other hand women who do not read gossip (mostly 40years and above), are observed to have a better image perception of her (p.2). Probably Lagerfeld had the younger generation in his mind, to cut into this volatile generation’s niche market, and probably unknowingly drifting away from its products’ traditional market niche (high class over 40). This could inform his idea from the statement he made in twitter.com, quoted in the first line of this paragraph. The other reason that was given for incorporating Allen is because of her perceived simple personality, thus the company would no be overshadowed by the celebrity life as it tries to market itself (p.2).

This approach is not in line with the theory of high-class vs. low class purchasing power. Furthermore, Lagerfeld’s initial collaboration with the Swedish fashion brand H&M to market some of the Lagerfeld’s clothing brands for both women and men was so successful that come the end of two days only, the limited products offered were all sold out (Taylor 2002, p.339). Lagerfeld had even expressed his negative perception of the lower market end, claiming it will taint his image. This perception is against his last decision to choose Lily Allen to represent his brand.

However, the Lagerfeld’s strategy is not even in line with the theories of production and consumption in the lower and upper market, as presented by the modern art market. According to Bourdieu (1977), “The denial of economic interest …finds its favorite refuge in the domain of art and culture the site of [a] pure [form of] consumption, of money, of course, but also of time convertible into money” (p.489). The exchange of goods and labor that produced mass production no longer exists and has largely been replaced by the production of circulation commodity, which has been largely enclosed in the latest isolated art. In this enclosure, the value of the commodity is enclosed and that high volumes of sales do not bring any significant benefit and have no measure of an aesthetic value. This implies that art in itself has defied the trend of mass production and instead adopted the profound attraction to money, through its transformation into the destination to few selected ‘high’ markets with the ability and willingness to purchase the value and not the mass.

Again, there is a sudden concept in the art and fashion industry that has puzzled sociologists as well as fashion marketers. To the sociologists, this is not a noble idea. To the fashion marketers, it is the catch that was yet to come in the past, but has now landed in real time and period. What am I talking about? The increasingly common mass perception that views artists with more added values is critical. According to Fowler (1997), “the hagiographic approach to the artist as ‘saint’ is with us, and with it, any attempt to analyze art and its social relation through scientific study is immaterial and will be viewed and dismissed as “reductionist’s” attempt to kill art”. However, this approach to scientific view is seen as a revolutionary for the economic success of fashion and art players since it reflects the modernism in capitalism. The phenomenon is seen in the way modern cultural product has designed to fit the modern market trend, which in essence, is just but a reaction to the criticism of the modern art. Cramphorn (1996, p.140) emphasize this when he says that the appearance of cultural production specially designed for the market is partly in reaction against production original works. In fact, art has been a subject of division where the objective is to have the two directions, with help of economic age (longevity) as the basis of classification. The first form is the long life art as an undertaking which is identified as risky while the second one is short-term art, considered less risk with shorter lifespan and quick commercial benefits (Cramphorn, 1996).

How can this classification be a boom to the fashion personalities like Lagerfeld and artists in terms of taste? Bourdieu elaborates his critical observations in relation to the taste and preference for the artwork in form of disintegration and money power, where art as a symbolic good is not drawn from other artists, but is a symbolic possession for the patrician families with ‘old money’, often the educated members of the society or professionals (Fowler 1997, p.124). The role of the leading critic or the prominent personality basically to approve the aesthetic value of the fashion product, while the role of the artist is to confirm the value of this product, thus giving the public the necessary confidence they year for in an attempt to purchase (Fowler, 1997). In this sense, culture confirms the legitimacy of the product as to be identified with a specifically stratified target consumers rather than the formerly less systematic mass productions. If Lagerfeld has to change, then it should be under the main theme of this aristocrats taste and not taste of the middle class who may have the desire but lack the capacity t o purchase. Furthermore, artistic reputations no longer have to wait for ‘posthumous’ recognition as with middle class (Shusterman 1992, p.312).

The long term investment in artistic works has proved to be a successful catch in the modern fashion industry. The contemporary artist should therefore look for the longevity of the art project and not short term gains that Lagerfeld is trying to adopt. Aaker & Joachimsthaler (1999, p.762) observes that long-term efforts to investment in the art market has been boosted by fact that it has received recognition far much better than the traditional mass market. What is important for the artist is to present his skills in a manner that suggests he or she is not interested in money to build reputation with the fans or the customers or the fashion goers.

Art and Fashion Future Prospects

Even though many would agree with the likes of Bourdieu, and their concrete criticism of the high fashion culture, it is apparent that their criticism is beneficial to the fashion fiestas, which thrives in controversy in an attempt to get publicity. Harald Gruendl calls it “the death of fashion”, where the commodity fetish (the commodity organization) is generally eased by enacting symbolic sacrifice of the commodity (Gruendl 2007, p.266). The consumers are therefore incorporated into the ritual of the sales strategy and they accept this form of incorporation by products that are only meant for publicity and short term sale (p.267).

Naomi Klein has produced one of the most sought after material that logically focuses on the future and what is needed to redeem the image of fashion (Klein, 2002). In the book: No Logo: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs, Klein (2002, p.1) outlines the four sections of the book in a logical manner, explaining the future of fashion with concepts such as the America’s sweatshops and the Asia’s cultural hamming, corporate censorship and reclaim the streets, highlighting the attentions on the ups and downs of such renown brands such as McDonalds and Nike. However, even though all the sections of the book offers critical observation on production, the last section, No logo, is more important in this context as it highlights the emerging culture on the consumers’ sides that deals in the springing up of the different fashion magazines and the culture of jamming in Asia (Klein, 2002). With Klein’s idea of fashion marketing and advertising, it is critical to look at the future of fashion strategies, as the consumers tries to assist in the production and distribution process.

Advertising is a somewhat a non-personal form of information dissemination directed to the consumer to influence their behaviors (Jacobs, et al., 1991). Practically, advertisement has been identified to be one of the most important tools that companies use to pass their well structured information that would influence the consumers’ conducts towards their intended products for sale. As stated earlier in the paper, it is evident how fashion has evolved from the initial mass production that encouraged mass production form mass culture to a more fragmented approach of designing the products with the specific market segment in mind. So how does the consumer connected to the future of fashion brand development and artwork? To elaborate on this point is important use the past and the present to predict the future of fashion and art work.

According to Simmons (2003), learning how to design is a product of the past for one cannot become an important designer if he or she is not trained and without knowing how to cut a dress, and that the only way out to learn some of these concepts are through the work of past designers. He says that strength and endurance of his designs for so many years is because his work has been rooted into the historical lessons combined with continuous artistic work (Simmons 2003, pp.1&2). However, it is not only fashion that people have to learn through studying the past, but the entire industry of art for example design clothes that are hurriedly made just for instant impression often do not count much and may not achieve much in the long run (Simmons, 2003).

As observed, today’s fashion industry and advertising has evolved tremendously, this is largely due to the increased technological approach where information is seen to move relatively fast as compared to the past. That is to say the use of internet, digital television and mobile marketing has revolutionized the fashion industry. Simmons (2003) however insist that the fact that some designers still believe in the past to an extent that they adopt the clothing styles that were adorned almost a half a century ago is just but one way of seeking past gratifications. From this he says that the past may not hold much future, unless merged with the present, and highlights the hip-hop generation as well as urban music that have changed the art industry, with multi-billion dollar markets and the Phat Fashion viral spread as one of the areas that designers should be in a position to observe keenly (Simmons, 2003, p.2).

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