Fashion is a Relatively New Industry

Prior to the industrial age, fashion wasn’t so much an industry as a fact of life. when everything is made by hand, fashions don’t change as quickly there aren’t fortunes to be made. With the ability to automate both textile and clothing production can the ability to mass produce. In that climate it became a necessity to market and sell fashion to larger markets — and to convince those markets to buy something new each season.

By the middle of the 20th century, fashion magazines and runway shows had become the focus of the fashion world. Designers offered collections to critics and buyers during regular Fashion Week events. It was equally important, if not moreso, to have those collections featured in the pages of Vogue in order to reach the actual consumer. Designers pay a fortune for advertising spreads in top fashion magazines and donate designs for photo shoots to gain even more exposure.

Originally designers focused only on the clothes themselves, but by the end of the last century, it was common to see designers who focused exclusively on accessories. Everything from shoes to earrings have to be designed by someone and the best dressed women in the world can tell you who designed every article on their bodies.