Volume 5 - Letter from the Editors

Our dear Fashion Studies community,

This is Volume 5 and, on this milestone moment, we are filled with joy and gratitude.

When we published the first volume of Fashion Studies, we wanted to create that platform that would allow research in fashion to be democratically available to all. Equally, we wanted to celebrate the plurality, interdisciplinarity, and hybridity of fashion studies by bringing humanities, social sciences, management, practice-based, and other research approaches together through one platform. What began as a pilot that was introduced into the world in June 2018, has turned into a community of fashion scholars, creatives, students, industry professionals, and publics. It is their commitment – your commitment as authors, readers, reviewers and journal staff – to our field and to this journal that has enabled Fashion Studies to reach Volume 5.

Journals in fashion studies have flourished since we first launched – accounting for at least sixteen English-language journals in the field to date. Taylor & Francis publishes Fashion Theory, Fashion Practice, Dress, Journal of Global Fashion Marketing and International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education; Intellect Books publishes eight journals in fashion studies including International Journal of Fashion Studies and Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty and Emerald publishes the Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management; Edinburgh University Press publishes Costume, and the Association of Dress Historians publishes The Journal of Dress History; and numerous journals are published in Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Italian, French, and other languages.

In such a vibrant journal-scape, how do we understand Fashion Studies and our role?

For us, the growth of existing journals and the introduction of new ones is evidence of the continued maturation of the field, the entry of new scholars and creatives – whether they are new to academia or new to fashion studies – and the enthusiastic interest in the topic of fashion and dress. The various journals reveal the richness of fashion to understanding social, historical, cultural, environmental and economic worlds and generating embodied, sensory, material and affective knowledges. Fashion is fashionable in academia, worn as a sash of pride. We are proud that Fashion Studies is part of this dynamic journal-scape and actively contributes to this dialogue. We also recognize that Fashion Studies is one of the only open access and interdisciplinary journals in our field, making an intellectually important and audience-expanding contribution.

Volume 5 would not be possible without committed funders and our phenomenal team. Thank you to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research of Council of Canada and Toronto Metropolitan University’s The Creative School for their continued funding that enables us to operate and offer our journal at no cost to authors and readers. We are deeply grateful to Mia Yaguchi-Chow (Design Lead), Carlea Blight (Editorial Assistant), Nimla Alam (Communication Specialist), and Kyle Shepherd (Fashion Studies intern) for bringing Fashion Studies to life.

We also offer the biggest thank you to Jaclyn Marcus (Managing Editor) who, after five volumes with the journal, is finishing her time as a PhD student and with the journal, taking on an exciting new role as a researcher at the Canadian Cancer Foundation. Jaclyn created the ground on which Fashion Studies has matured through her visionary leadership, editing brilliance, generous mentorship, and unparalleled organizational talents. While we will deeply miss her as Managing Editor, her legacy is embedded in this journal and its continuation for years to come.

Alison Matthews David & Ben Barry

Co-Editors of Fashion Studies