Drastic changes in the career aspirations of women in the developed
world have resulted in a new, globalised market for off-the-peg designer
clothes created by independent artisans. This book reports on a
phenomenon that seems to exemplify the twin imperatives of globalisation
and female emancipation.
- A major conceptual contribution to the literatures on globalisation,
fashion and gender, analysing the ways in which women's entry into the
labour force over the past thirty years in the developed world has
underpinned new forms of aestheticised production and consumption as
well as the growth of 'work-style' businesses
- A vital contribution to the burgeoning literature on culture and
creative industries which often ignores the significant roles taken by
women as entrepreneurs and designers rather than mere consumers
- Introduces fashion scholars and economic geographers to a paradigmatic
example of the new designer fashion industries emerging in a range of
countries not traditionally associated with fashion
- Takes a fresh perspective on an industry in which Third World garment
workers have been the subject of exhaustive analysis but first world
women have been largely ignored