The twentieth century has been a period of deep and quick changes, a time of
great tragedies whose consequences were felt worldwide. Boom periods alternated with
economic depression and austerity, and those fluctuations influenced all areas of life, had
an impact on customs and altered the rhythm of societies. In each of these steps, society
was transformed along with its customs and values. New cultural expressions tried to
channel the anxieties and researches at every moment and the correlation of these flows
was also expressed in fashion. To think about fashion in the twentieth century implies the
reflection about the body, the society and its changes; it implies also “to read” technological
changes and its counterpart in the culture in the light of the diverse manifestations that
operate at all levels of daily life; to think about fashion is thinking about dress codes
that express the values and idiosyncrasies of each historical moment and is to think of
ourselves and how we want others to see us.
This Journal is intended to analyze some aspects of the reality of the twentieth century, to
discover the social relations around fashion, its production and reproduction.