Fashion studies

The course provides students with knowledge and understanding of the methodological, critical- problematic, and applied aspects of the history of fashion in the early modern period (ca. 1450–1800), considered as a cultural, economic, and political phenomenon embedded in transregional networks. It introduces areal and thematic perspectives in which fashion intersects with processes of identity construction (social, gender, religious, ethnic) and with dynamics of power representation and social distinction. It highlights the diversity of fields in which disciplinary skills can be applied, such as the global circulation of materials, techniques, symbols, and garments, and the often asymmetric interactions among Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. (Descriptor 1) The course develops students' ability to independently connect the acquired knowledge with other academic disciplines, fostering an interdisciplinary dialogue with fields such as history, art history, literature, anthropology, economics, political science, and religious studies. The analysis of written, visual, and material sources enables students to relate the history of fashion to broader cultural languages and symbolic systems, offering tools to understand fashion as a historically situated visual language. (Descriptor 2) The course enables students to apply the acquired knowledge and disciplinary language to develop transversal competences, such as:  independent judgment, through critical engagement with fashion historiography and deconstruction of notions like “center” and “periphery,” “originality,” “tradition,” etc.;  communication skills, by formulating complex historical arguments both in oral and written form using appropriate terminology;  research autonomy, by encouraging students to formulate original research questions and reflect on the role of fashion in shaping global cultural and commercial relationships. (Descriptors 3–5)