Are young people slaves to fashion?
In a sense, young people can be slaves to fashion if they succumb to marketing manipulations. In the book "Young People and Social Change: New Perspectives, by Andy Furlong and Fred Cartmel, fashion is referred to as an "individual choice," but the "preferences illustrate the successful strategies used by muti-national corporations" to shape youth fashion trends. (Page 72)
Other advanced marketing techniques are used to promote specific brand identity and style in youth. Trying to fit in and do what is popular and trendy for a specific niche group impacts how someone dresses at school and with friends. Teens that attempt to branch off and create their own style sometimes still end up associating with a specific fashion culture niche that is the result of a brand or style marketed from corporations and other fashion entities.
not really — not all of them are. Some people are — some people aren’t — but we are bound, in some sense, by the companies that make clothes — unless we can sew, and even then we can only choose from the patterns available — we have to choose from what is made available to us. I think slowly, we are gaining ground and kids are more aware of peer pressure and options — it isn’t perfect, but they are way ahead of their parents’ generation.
