Author Description

The roles of fashion and taste are central to our understanding of the social dynamics in any modern society. In this treatise on the aestheticization of social life, Jukka Gronow uses the insights of Veblen, Simmel and Lyotard, among others, to show how fashion operates as a form of play binding modern society together and allowing an equilibrium between the opposing forces of individualization and socialization. Drawing on Georg Simmel's original sociological interpretation of Immanuel Kant's aesthetics, this book argues that in a society characterized by a high degree of individuality, we judge everyday life on its aesthetic qualities. This book offers an analysis of the social mechanism of fashion and the role of 'community of taste' as it appears in social life.