What is ‘space’ for dress? Theoretical considerations of a spatial turn for fashion studies

This article seeks to contribute to the increasing body of fashion scholarship focused on space. Along with a spatial turn in human and social sciences, it is increasingly recognized by fashion researchers that spaces and places of fashion matter ‐ but it is less discussed how a theoretical framework could be created to explore these. Thus, a Lefebvrian spatial analysis is considered here. The approach suggested recognizes that dress is fundamentally political, as is the space which it inhabits. Dressed bodies are subject to hegemonic ideologies, but individuals have the power to resist these, too. Some parameters of a spatialized fashion sociology and what benefits such an approach can bring for fashion scholarship more generally are considered. Dress should be understood as spatial practice, which in its turn creates spaces and realities, too. Such a framing allows for analysis of various spaces dressed bodies move through, and of how garments operate in these. Furthermore, it allows for extending the analysis by following garments through their whole life cycle, exploring the different kinds of spaces they enter. Such an approach has the potential for overcoming some persistent biases inherent in fashion scholarship, which tends to focus more on the ‘core’ than the ‘periphery’ locations of fashion.