Male domination in the Apparel Industry

Male domination in the Apparel Industry

Introduction

The apparel or clothing industry is a diverse industry which covers an extensive range of areas e .g . fashion , design and technology as well as products i .e . synthetic and leather yarns , beddings , human clothes . As such , the clothing industry often pertains to the fashion industry which primarily influence by color , design , and fabric . For the case at hand , the discussion on the apparel industry would entirely focus on personal clothing from underwear , pants , shirts and accessories for people . Clothing is basic necessity in

life . People wear clothing different reasons but mainly for protection from the extremities in our natural environment i .e . cold and hot temperature . However , more than just a protective garment , people used clothing as social tool to be more physically attractive or pleasant to others , to express our emotions and lifestyles , to distinguish cultural heritage socio-economic class or profession and to create the necessary ambiance and setting in the performance of religious , political and other rituals . Under these premises , the apparel industry plays a significant role in the socio political history of people all over the world

While the apparel industry is primarily engaged in the design and creation of garments made from fabric , its study seemed not appealing to men as evidenced by the fact that only few male students study the discipline today . In fact , many people may have a misconception that textile and fashion is a female thing especially so because fashion and shopping normally comes in each others pocket . Unknown to many however the textile and fashion industry is actually dominated by men since time immemorial . The proceeding essay would show that breakthroughs in the clothing industry as well as leadership in the industry are mostly made and held by men

Men in the Fashion and Textile History

The textile industry has an age old rich history provided a considerable influence in the evolution of contemporary society . The etymology of 'Textile ' is from the Latin word 'texere ' meaning 'to weave (Miller E . 1969 , p10 ) Weaving is one of the ancient surviving human crafts that dated back to Neolithic times . Today , textile pertains to the material constituted by either natural or synthetic fibers that is formed in different mechanical process i .e . weaving , knotting to join them together to produce yarns

One of the earliest forms of textiles was those from the sheep 's wool Ancient people produce the wool yarn through a spinning and twisting process that are manually done by hands , which provided the principles for the invention of the spinning wheel that was introduced in the late 14th century

In the next centuries to come , due to the expensive and laborious process of weaving , fashion is mainly focused on the privileged elite The sense of fashion and design were mainly based on the history of dresses of the royalties . Royal members even employ court dolls or fashion babies to communicate their costumes with royalties from other lands (Hurlock , E , 1984 , P130 ) During these...