Topic 3. Sociology of Fashion and Diffusion of Innovations
Chapter Reflections
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Since 2020, the rise of fast fashion storefronts like SheIn and “fashion haul” content creators on TikTok have greatly affected the speed at which new “microtrends” rise and fall. Consider how fast-moving trends might change the typical “diffusion of innovation” process. For example, can late majority consumers still exist in a structure like this, or would they all fall into the laggards category?
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This TED Talk on The Solution to Fast Fashion by Josephine Philips discusses how tailoring, repairing, and thoughtfully purchasing clothing can limit waste. As a consumer, how do you approach this issue? Do you know how to fix clothing that fits badly or needs repair, or where to go for help?
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There are many reasons why people choose to wear a specific type or trend of clothing. Perhaps they want to express themselves, hide themselves, or simply meet the expectations of modern society. The band BABYMETAL wears clothing that meshes traditional punk and gothic paraphernalia (black clothing, metal, and sharp lines) with lolita fashion, a hyper-cute fashion subculture with shorter, full skirts, and fun, often colorful designs. Would you argue that BABYMETAL’s fashion choices reflect their band’s image, or not? Why?
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Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell’s article “When American Suffragists Tried to ‘Wear the Pants’” discusses the backlash that women in the United States received when they attempted to wear pants while arguing for the right to vote. This is far from the last time that the “women in pants” debate would be relevant in the United States, though. As late as the 1960s, women on television were expected to wear skirts, making Mary Tyler Moore’s choice to wear pants on the Dick Van Dyke show a major upset at the time, even though women in everyday life were wearing pants regularly without the same moral backlash that could be seen in the early 1900s. This decision was able to affect later television shows and support the normalization of women wearing pants. What other fashion innovations have you seen move from television into everyday life, or from everyday life to more mainstream media outlets?
- Danit Peleg’s 2014 TED Talk imagined a future where consumers would download and 3D print their clothes at home. A decade later, this vision has yet to become mainstream. What does this tell us about the diffusion of innovation in fashion—and what deeper physical, social, emotional, or cultural functions of clothing might be slowing that adoption?
- Vogue Business reports that Meta took a ~3 % stake (≈€3 billion) in EssilorLuxottica in early 2025 — leveraging its design heritage, global distribution, and fashion credibility to bring AI-powered smart eyewear to the mainstream. To what extent do you think technology — specifically AI‑enabled smart glasses — could transform how people see (literally and symbolically) fashion? What barriers—social, aesthetic, functional, or economical—might prevent these smart glasses from delivering on Meta’s vision and achieving its business goals of this investment?
