Industrialisation and Fashion

This chapter traces the history of fashion industrialisation from the Industrial Revolution to the present day, examining how transformations in manufacturing, distribution, and consumption have shaped the global fashion industry. It analyses the emergence of ready-made clothing in the nineteenth century, the rise of haute couture in Paris as a driver of the fashion system, and the post-war reconfiguration of the industry through the development of prêt-à-porter in France and ready-to-wear in Italy. The chapter further examines the structural transformations of the 1970s and 1980s, the role of industrial districts and designer collaboration in the affirmation of Italian fashion on the international stage, the globalisation of luxury through French conglomerates, and the emergence of fast and ultra-fast fashion as the dominant business model of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Drawing on business history and economic history perspectives, it situates the industrialisation of fashion within the broader dynamics of capitalism, globalisation, and sustainability.