The Fashion System (Roland Barthes)

"The Fashion System" by Roland Barthes analyzes clothing and fashion as a language of signs and meaning. It explores how garments communicate messages about identity, culture, and social status, similar to words in a language. Barthes examines how fashion encodes ideas through fabrics, styles, and trends, which are interpreted by viewers. He treats fashion not just as decoration but as a complex system of symbols that reflect and shape societal values. This perspective helps us understand how clothing influences perception and identity beyond mere aesthetics, emphasizing fashion as a form of visual communication rooted in cultural codes.