Worlds with no fashion? : the birth of eurocentrism

Abstract

The idea of fashion as a diffusionist force, starting in Europe and expanding (especially in the twentieth century) to other parts of the world rested on European / Western imperial precepts. It allowed for narratives that followed closely the chronological, interpretative and conceptual categories of European history. The consequence was that other areas of the world were either latecomers in ‘adopting’ fashion, or did not quite fulfil the criteria to match the European model. This chapter argues that the idea that fashion existed only in Europe emerged in the so-called ‘first global age’ (c. 1500-1800) at a time in which different parts of the world became increasingly connected through trade, diplomacy but also exploitation and war. It was in this period that fashion was used as a tool of power to affirm Europe’s dominance, well before its nations emerged as empires and that discriminatory racial categories came to legitimise Europe’s conquest of other parts of the world.