Abstract
‘Color’ was investigated in depth by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1840) who, in his Theory of Colors, explained this phenomenon through experiments aimed at highlighting how color is a result of the viewer’s experience. Goethe’s focus was empirical rather than theoretical, and his studies laid the foundations for subsequent studies of color. Indeed, almost two centuries later, his book remains a milestone in the investigation of color.
This edited volume, Colors in Fashion, investigates color as a social construction intrinsically connected to the geographic and social context(s) in which it is produced and consumed. The volume originates from the Costume Colloquium held in Florence in 2014, which explored the interwoven relationship between colors and costume production.
The volume is divided into four sections, each focusing on a specific theme: ‘color and solidarity’, ‘color and power’, ‘color and innovation’, and ‘color and desire’. Each section comprises four chapters, and the contributions emanate from various fields of study such as history, art and fashion, and from different continents and cultures.
The first section, ‘color and solidarity’, presents color as an element used to express social ideas; as such, it argues that color is strongly embedded in local culture. The four contributions in this section include work on the Ebony Fashion Fair in Chicago, which celebrates African American women and their garments, and a contribution on white as a symbol of the suffragette movement in Britain. The other chapters emanate from Nigeria and France, the latter chapter examining the tricolor as a symbol of ‘Frenchness’.
The second section, ‘color and power’, investigates color as an element used to construct images of power in the courts and in politics. It provides a contemporary approach to the analysis of outfit and chromatic choices by relating them to the construction of identity. For example, the first chapter explains how colors represent an integral part of the Thai court etiquette as each color is associated with a deity and a specific day of the week. Other chapters in this section focus on the dresses worn by Danish Queen Alexandra, color in uniforms, and the varying connotations of the color yellow in the East and West.
The third section, ‘color and innovation’, highlights the dynamic nature of color and its evolution due to technological advancement. At the same time, this section highlights how fashion strives for innovation, albeit that humanity is initially suspicious of novelty before accepting it as part of its daily life. The first contribution explains how the need to display fashion transformed the cinema industry as color could not be enacted in black and white. Other chapters present how the need to create a collection solely in one color, ‘blue’, led to different nuances and intertextual references; how a color such as ‘green’ is considered dangerous because of its association with a chemical pigment and Oscar Wilde’s carnation and same-sex love; and the institutionalization of colors in terms of production and naming.
The fourth section, ‘color and desire’, gathers contributions under the umbrella theme of chromatic desire in which producer and consumer go through a process of alignment that eventually leads to innovation. Chapters present the shifts in color trends in the 20th century, and highlight how those trends are interconnected with culture, history, and society, all the while being framed by fashion media. Chapters discuss the color black and its discursive construction after being disseminated by Parisian eminent personalities after the Second World War, describe the perfect red of the broadcloth as a result of globalization, and unpack the color blue as a complex element given its materiality and reception in society.
As a whole, this volume provides insightful discussion of the concept of color; the volume benefits from contributions about a diverse range of socio-cultural and historical contexts, which enable an understanding of colors from diverse points of view. The intrinsic relationship between color and fashion is articulated through a multi-perspectival approach that spans the social sciences, fashion studies, history, art and business, though the latter is under-explored in the volume, only being brought into the discussion in order to understand the dynamics behind trends, the interests of companies like Pantone, the influence of fashion media, and all the stakeholders involved in the roulette of colors extracted to be included in each seasonal palette.
The volume represents a useful resource for scholars in fashion, history and social science, who will be familiar with the types of work presented in the book. At the same time, business scholars, professionals in the industry, designers and architects, semioticians and social semioticians who are interested in deeply understanding the meanings carried by certain chromatic choices, especially at the stage of production and/or distribution, will also find this volume of interest.