The End Theories in the Fashion and Art Discourse

Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis

Abstract

The author of the text aims to stress the importance of different stages of fashion and brings out the “end” problematics in the field of fashion and art. The discussion of the development of fashion starts from the prehistory of the phenomenon of popular fashion as a recurring fashion cycle trend, which is untypically related to the rococo period and the era of the fashion influencer Marie Antoinette in 1772 instead of 1860, when the couturier F. Ch. Worth started working, thus seeking to assess the circumstances that created the preconditions for the appearance of the fashion market. The au- thor identifies the ends that happened from the late 18th century to our days, separately distinguishing the End of Fashion by the fashion historian Valerie Steele in 1960, which coincides with the chronology offered by the philosopher Arthur Coleman Danto, and the ongoing second end of fashion, which was identified by the sociologist Patrizia Calefato. The author aims to pinpoint the inner operating principle of fashion, which is not based on the aim to improve, but produces a growing wish to consume more and to relate one’s identity to material welfare. The article contains a brief overview of the highs and lows of fashion consumption, which were affected by social and cultural changes and shaped not only the special features of clothes, but also consumer needs. The author starts a discussion about the synthesis of art and fashion, asking what values are missing in today’s fashion market, and what it should offer to the consumer or what the consumer should demand from it. Thus, the text aims to show the importance of the end theories as a means of constant rethinking of our relation to fashion, thus encouraging the awareness of designers and consumers regarding the issue of creative fashion and consumption.