Description: Through an examination of iconic fashion companies Paul Smith and Mulberry, this work provides insights into the culture of contemporary fashion and the dilemmas of 'going global'. It argues that 'Britishness' is characterized less through a particular look than through its ambiguities.
Brief description: Joanne B. Eicher was Regents Professor Emerita at the University of Minnesota. Joanne was Editor-in-Chief, Encyclopedia of Dress and Fashion (Bloomsbury and OUP); Series Editor, Dress, Body, Culture (Bloomsbury) and Dress and Fashion Research (Bloomsbury); Editor, Global Trade and Cultural Authentication: The Kalabari of the Niger Delta; and Co-Author, The Visible Self (Fairchild); Dress and Gender (Berg); Dress and Ethnicity (Berg); Beads and Beadmakers (Berg); Mother, Daughter, Sister, Bride (National Geographic); and a wide variety of published articles in professional journals and chapters in books.
Review Quotes:
"'The National Fabric' sheds new light on Britain's position in the global market place, and uncovers not only the paradoxical nature of the British fashion industry, but of the very sense of nationhood. By combining the scholarly approaches of cultural geography and fashion theory Alison Goodrum offers original and crucial insights into the contemporary, international culture of fashion, its dilemmas and the industry it supports." --Hazel Clark, Parsons School of Design, New York
"'The National Fabric' provides an important new approach to the analysis of fashion. ... This book will no doubt provide new ground for further interpretation and research into the geography of fashion." --Laura Jocic, Context: the Journal of the New Zealand Costume and Textile Section of the Auckland Museum Institute