Bell-bottoms. Skinny jeans. Oversized blazers. Fashion is a prevailing custom or style at a given time, especially in clothing, but also in music, speech, and design. It differs from a fad in duration and from a taboo in that it is not prohibited. Fashion signals identity, status, and group membership.

Georg Simmel argued that fashion satisfies two opposing needs: the need to fit in and the need to stand out. Elites adopt a style, others imitate it, elites move on. The cycle repeats. Today, fast fashion and social media compress that cycle into weeks.

Levels of fashion

• Haute couture: custom, high-status, expensive
• Ready-to-wear: mass-produced designer clothing
• Street style: emerging from subcultures and urban scenes
• Fast fashion: cheap, trend-driven, rapid turnover

Fashion is not trivial. The global apparel industry employs millions, pollutes rivers, and drives labor disputes. What we wear connects personal taste to global supply chains.