Fashion

A fashion history from the 18th to the 20th century Clothes define people. A person's clothing, whether it's a sari, kimono, or business suit, is an essential key to his or her culture, class, personality, or even religion. The Kyoto Costume Institute recognizes the importance of understanding clothing sociologically, historically, and artistically. Founded in 1978, the KCI holds one of the world's most extensive clothing collections and has curated many exhibitions worldwide. With an emphasis on Western women's clothing, the KCI has amassed a wide range of historical garments, underwear, shoes, and fashion accessories dating from the 18th century to the present day. Showcasing a vast selection from the Institute's archives of skilled photographs depicting the clothing expertly displayed and arranged on custom-made mannequins, Fashion History is a fascinating excursion through the last three centuries of clothing trends. The KCI believes that "clothing is an essential manifestation of our very being" and their passion and dedication positively radiate from every page of this book. This special 25th anniversary edition has a chic new format: two volumes packaged in a slipcase.

Professor Christopher Breward is a leading cultural historian. Appointed Principal of ECA in September 2011, he is also Vice Principal for the Creative Industries and Performing Arts and Professor of Cultural History at the University of Edinburgh. His publications and exhibitions have considered the cultural history of fashion in the West, the history and status of London and other cities as global capitals of fashion, men as consumers of dress and related histories of dandyism, and ideas of fashion, modernity and memory. He has worked on major collaborative curatorial projects funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Christopher studied at the Courtauld Institute and the Royal College of Art. Prior to joining ECA as the new College’s first Principal, he held posts at Manchester Metropolitan University, the Royal College of Art, London College of Fashion (University of the Arts London) and the Victoria & Albert Museum. He is a Governor of the Pasold Institute and a Trustee of the National Museums of Scotland. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the RCA, an Honorary Research Fellow at the V&A and a Fellow of the RSA. In 2012, Christopher co-curated the V&A’s Olympic season exhibition British Design: Innovation in the Modern Age 1948-2012. He has contributed catalogue essays to V&A exhibitions on Quilts, Couture, Sport and Fashion, Aestheticism, Postmodernism, David Bowie and post-war Italian Fashion, and to catalogues for the exhibitions Artist, Rebel, Dandy at the Rhode Island School of Design and Ivy Style and A Queer History of Fashion at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. He sits on editorial and advisory boards for journals including Fashion Theory, Costume, The Happy Hypocrite, Visual Culture in Britain and Interiors: Design/Architecture/Culture and is series editor for Manchester University Press’s Studies in Design. He is currently working on the cultural history of the suit and supervising PhD students in fashion and design/decorative arts history. http://www.eca.ed.ac.uk/eca-home/chris-breward