1st Edition

Labor and Creativity in New York’s Global Fashion Industry

By Christina H. Moon Copyright 2020
    242 Pages 15 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This book tells the story of fashion workers engaged in the labor of design and the material making of New York fashion.

    Christina H. Moon offers an illuminating ethnography into the various sites and practices that make up fashion labor in sample rooms, design studios, runways, factories, and design schools of the New York fashion world. By exploring the work practices, social worlds, and aspirations of fashion workers, this book offers a unique look into the meaning of labor and creativity in 21st century global fashion.

    This book will be of interest to scholars in design studies, fashion history, and fashion labor.

    Introduction: Fashion Workers and the Labor of Design

    1. Shoddy Seams: The Decline of the New York Garment Industry and Its Transformation Into New York Fashion

    2. Back of House/Front of House: Creative Skills and "Effortless" Labor Among Samplemakers and Fashion Workers

    3. The Deskilling of Design: Technology, Education, and the Routinization of Fashion’s Engineers

    4. Designing Diaspora: The Racialization of Labor, the Rebranding of Korea, and the Movement of Fashion Designers Between Seoul and New York

    5. Fast-Fashion Families: Family Ties and Fast-Fashion Production in the Los Angeles Jobber Market

    Epilogue: Made in China

    Biography

    Christina H. Moon is an Assistant Professor in Fashion Studies in the School of Art and Design History, Parsons School for Design at The New School.