History of Fashion & Costume

The aim of the course is to provide students a general knowledge of the history of Fashion and Costume.  The fashion is a form of language, used to communicate who we are, to describe our society, economy, religion and many other things; it represents “The Spirit of the Time”. This would explain why clothes are nowadays studied by psychologists, sociologists, economists, anthropologists and art historians.

The course starts from the analysis of the origins of Fashion phenomenon at the time of Italian Renaissance and its historical evolution from the French Revolution to nowadays fashion, as a form of individual or group language, as a form of communication within the society.  Different fashion styles will be seen from an historical and sociological perspective. Fashion represents what we call “Zeitgeist” or “Spirit of the Time” and is always seen in the connection with culture, art, and social situations and trends. The course includes also information on nowadays Italian fashion system and the most important Italian fashion brands.