Are we creating our own identities through fashion, or is the fashion industry creating them for us??

We all know that fashion is forever throwing trend, after trend at us, moving so fast only the devoted followers and those that can afford the for ever changing array of styles are able to keep up. But how much of our identities to we owe to the fashion industry??? Although not everybody has an interest in current trends, it could be suggested that even picking the most ordinary items of clothing, that it has still been through a production line of influences and decisions, before it hits the sales floor! Posing the question our we really the makers of our own identity through fashion or are our choices limited to what has been decided for us?

For decades, people have used clothing as a way of portraying who they are and what they believe in. Just look back to the 1980s, the era of punk, or even the image of the 1950s housewife. What people wear and how they wear it, allows people to identify where and what group, they belong to in society. The very notion of distinction through clothing was displayed to me more than ever recently, when the high street label Joules, opened its doors for the first time in my local town, It got me questioning have they created a uniform for the middle class??? Or is it that looking middle class has become the trend? It could be said that the creators of Joules have very cleverly created a brand with the very idea of giving the sense of belonging to a particular group.

Joules is just one example of a company that has a link with identity, there are many others, Laura Ashley, the perfect uniform for motherhood, Fat Face, for the laid back, free thinker, These high street stores all create new seasonal collections but seem exempt from trend, as they have developed their own brand of style. It could be suggested that changing trends and the movements that are current in society at the time, have a enormous influence on developing identities throughout different eras. However these companies, that have developed a brand of style, have been able create a look that creates a firm identity with groups that may not fade with time and could possibly achieve longevity in society.

But who is the instigator of such strong influences? Although the fashion industry is filled to the brim with creativity, the concepts and ideas have to come from somewhere! But where? Usually from what is all around us, what is happening in society and what we ourselves, have created. So it could be said, that though our identities are influenced by fashion, fashion is influence by us.