La rappresentazione simbolica del potere attraverso la moda

The use of fashion for the purpose of representing power is a controversial and misunderstood topic in political science disciplines and only partially recognized by Fashion Theory. It is widely believed that a “superficial” phenomenon, such as fashion, has little in common with a dimension of human action, such as politics. In fact, politics concerns the construction and regulation of social life and calls into question the great systems of ideas, destined to leave an imprint on history. Fashion, on the other hand, is fleeting, and little inclined to stability. Starting from the symbolic representation of absolute power, we will try to analyse the epochal transition towards democracy, implemented between the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, through the French and industrial revolutions. Contemporary developments highlight a further step forward in this relationship that calls into question the contamination between politics and mass culture, typical of post-ideological politics and politics-entertainment.