Fashion matters for the economy, to society, and to each of us personally. Faster than anything else, what we wear tells the story of who we are or who we want to be. It is the most immediate form of self-expression. Yet even as fashion touches the lives of each and every one of us, its influence and the vast creative industry that it supports can seem mysterious to outsiders. In Why Fashion Matters Frances Corner, Head of London College of Fashion,...

"Everyone has a memoir in miniature in at least one piece of clothing. In Worn Stories, Emily Spivack has collected over sixty of these clothing-inspired narratives from cultural figures and talented storytellers. First-person accounts range from the everyday to the extraordinary, such as artist Marina Abramovic on the boots she wore to walk the Great Wall of China; musician Rosanne Cash on the purple shirt that belonged to her father; and fashion...

"Dressing the Resistance' explores how everyday people have harnessed the visual power of clothing, accessories and costume to spur social and cultural change. Throughout history, societies have used clothing to show acceptance and exclusion, convention and subversion, group belonging and rejection. In the same way, fashion, clothing, textiles and costume have served their own critical role in shaping protest movements throughout history. In short,...