K7LA 2050 - History and Sociology of Luxury and Fashion
The aim of this class is to provide students with a historical and sociological overview of the luxury and fashion industries. The class is intended to be both intellectually sound and practically oriented. In other words, tools and concepts learned in class will be rooted in academic knowledge, yet actionable. While the two industries are different—for example, whereas luxury is all about atemporality, fashion is about recurrent change—they share deep cultural and socio-economic connections (notably a strong focus on aesthetics and craft) and are best understood together. The class will be composed of two clearly identified and interrelated components: History and Sociology. The History component will highlight key milestones of the development of the luxury and fashion industries, while the Sociology part will focus on their core cultural and socio-economic features and mechanisms.
Sophie KURKDJIAN,Marlène VAN DE CASTEELE
Cours magistral seul
English
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to
Demonstrate an understanding of the different meanings of sociology of fashion and luxury.
Identify, Connect and critically evaluate important secondary sources related to critical fashion and luxury studies.
Reflect critically on the social, cultural and global dimensions on luxury and its values.
Independently develop an essay on a perspective or the idea of luxury and its contents through the analysis of primary sources.
Spring 2021-2022
Each component of the class (history and sociology) will have the same mode of evaluation. The historical and sociological parts will be evaluated based on 1 personal essay (which will take the form of a case illustrating one of the themes studied in class) and class participation (70% ad 30% of the final grade, respectively).
For the historical and sociological parts of the class, the format will be lectures using in-class work and (short) interclass assignments. The course will also include two guest lecture (Marco Pecorari and Khemaïs Ben Lakhdar).
Michaud, Y. (2013). Le nouveau luxe: Expériences, arrogance, authenticité. Paris, Stock.
Lehmann, U. (2017). The Luxury Duality: From Economic Fact to Cultural Capital. Critical Luxury Studies. Art, Design, Media, eds. Armitage, J. and Roberts, J. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 67-87.
Crane, D. (2001). Fashion and its social agenda: Class, gender, and identity in clothing. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.