Fashion, Children’s

The birth of a specific style for children in the modern West is often associated with the ideas of the Enlightenment-era philosopher John Locke and, after him, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. However, children’s fashion may also be identified more generally as a way to dress up individuals who are still in a state of physical and social dependency upon adults. Children’s fashion can also be understood as the social interaction of the stakeholders involved in the production of specific wardrobes, dependent on the historical context in which children are brought up. Despite its position as one of the more dynamic ready-to-wear segments of the global fashion market, children’s fashion is frequently overlooked in fashion studies, except as a reflection of adult style. However, through the historical analysis ...