Francesca Granata “Fashion Criticism: An Anthology”

Fashion Talks at AUP 2021/22: Between Consumption, Criticism and Activism.

About the talk:

Starting in the late 19th century, newspapers typically relegated fashion coverage to the so-called “women’s pages,” alongside the other “Four F’s,” which included food, family, and furnishings, all topics that were dismissed as the epitome of soft news. In part because of its gender specificity, fashion criticism has not been taken as seriously as other fields of cultural criticism and dismissed as frivolous. This is in spite of the fact that fashion criticism not only has historically helped define fashion ideals, but in the process, occupied a central role in negotiating shifting gender roles but also shifting understandings of race. It has both chronicled and, especially in the last two decades, helped open up norms of beauty and fashionability. Focusing on fashion criticism produced in the English language from the late 19th century—a period in which the fashion press proliferated to the present—the talk will discuss fashion criticism “interwoven discourses” from gender to electoral politics.

Francesca’s talk is part of this year's Fashion Talks at AUP entitled: Between Consumption, Criticism and Activism – organized by Professor Renate Stauss and Professor Sophie Kurkdjian (Fashion Studies, Department of Communication, Media and Culture).

Link to this talk will be sent to registrants just prior to the start of the event. For information on how to attend this event after registration has closed, please email rstaussaup.edu.