The study of the textile sector has always been central to economic history: from reconstructions of the dynamic growth in the medieval wool industry, to the rise of silk and light and mixed fabrics in the modern era, to the driving role of cotton in the industrialisation process. Although the dynamics of textile manufacturing are closely linked to the transformations of fashion, economic history has long neglected its role as a factor in economic change, treating it primarily as a kind of exogenous catalyst. This book makes a decisive contribution to the understanding of a fundamental transformation, the consequences of which are projected into contemporary society, but which matured in pre-industrial times: the advent of fashion.

The study of the textile sector has always been central to economic history: from reconstructions of the dynamic growth in the medieval wool industry, to the rise of silk and light and mixed fabrics in the modern era, to the driving role of cotton in the industrialisation process. Although the dynamics of textile manufacturing are closely linked to the transformations of fashion, economic history has long neglected its role as a factor in economic change, treating it primarily as a kind of exogenous catalyst. This book makes a decisive contribution to the understanding of a fundamental transformation, the consequences of which are projected into contemporary society, but which matured in pre-industrial times: the advent of fashion.

The study of the textile sector has always been central to economic history: from reconstructions of the dynamic growth in the medieval wool industry, to the rise of silk and light and mixed fabrics in the modern era, to the driving role of cotton in the industrialisation process. Although the dynamics of textile manufacturing are closely linked to the transformations of fashion, economic history has long neglected its role as a factor in economic change, treating it primarily as a kind of exogenous catalyst. This book makes a decisive contribution to the understanding of a fundamental transformation, the consequences of which are projected into contemporary society, but which matured in pre-industrial times: the advent of fashion.

Charts the rise of consumerism and the new cosmopolitan material cultures that took shape across the globe from 1500 to 1820.

This is the first global history of dress regulation and its place in broader debates around how human life and societies should be visualised and materialised. Sumptuary laws were a tool on the part of states to regulate not only manufacturing systems and moral economies via the medium of expenditure and consumption of clothing but also banquets, festivities and funerals. Leading scholars on Asian, Latin American, Ottoman and European history shed new light on how and why items of dress became key aspirational goods across society, how they were lobbied for and marketed, and whether or not sumptuary laws were implemented by cities, states and empires to restrict or channel trade and consumption. Their findings reveal the significance of sumptuary laws in medieval and early modern societies as a site of contestation between individuals and states and how dress as an expression of identity developed as a modern 'human right'.