The End of Fashion: How Marketing Changed the Clothing Business Forever Paperback – August 22, 2000

Fantastic book about the commercial history and the business of fashion as a whole. The author provides a collection of brief historical accounts of all the major brands and labels: how they came to be, a brief introduction to each designer, and how and why they succeeded, or failed, in the market. Following that, the book also covers the retail side: shift from boutiques to large retailers, to discounters (Target, Walmart), and how each designer dealt with the continuously changing landscape of how clothes are sold and marketed (e.g. role of Hollywood, TV, celebrity endorsements, and so on).Finally, the book covers the 90's craze of fashion IPOs and their outcomes - mixed results, to say the least! As a bonus, the book sprinkles financial and performance figures throughout all of the different chapters. In short, this is a great one-stop-shop overview of the business of fashion - worth checking out even if you're not in the field.My only remaining wish is that I would love to see an update to the book! A decade has passed, and I'd be curious to see how the landscape has changed since, as it surely has...

Great storytelling and insights. Teri analyzes the fashion world from a very perceptive business perspective and cites specific factors, events and egos that has led fashion to where it is today. When I shop for brands today, I have a more informative background as to backstory of every major brand. Highly recommend. I hope there's a follow up edition coming out soon.

This book is much more than a review of fashion. Was it the author's intention to write an all encompassing book about social structure, social order, consumerism and commerce? It certainly is that, as well as a comprehensive discussion on the numerous aspects and shifts in fashion.The book is a historical recounting of changes that took place primarily between the fifteenth and twenty-first centuries. More then a visual recording of changing social trends, fashion has, and continues to be, a significant influence on the fabric of society. Truthfully, it is sobering to see the influence that yards of cloth, designs, marketers and corporate giants have over the lives of people world wide.It isn't just about the clothes in your wardrobe: it is about the nail polish on your fingers, the cutlery in your kitchen and the plates that you put your food on. From agriculture to pharmaceuticals, from Wall Street to Hollywood, from Washington to international money markets, there is a connection to fashion of which the majority of people are unaware.Think that you are free from influence of the runway? Think again. The paint on your walls and the sheets on your bed have a connection to fashion.If you do not believe that your registered retirement savings plan is influenced by fashion, you should read this book and get better informed.In some ways this book reads like a Sherlock Holmes mystery. As thread-like connections come into view, a world that the reader is unaware of begins to reveal itself. I am betting that during the course of reading this book, you will walk around your home and either breathe a sigh of relief of how little you have paid into some else's empire, or you will recognize how you have been duped and will vow to diminish that influence in the future.The author, Teri Agins, reportedly a well respected reporter, knew exactly what she was doing when she wrote this book.'Reader response' is the act of engaging with a writing that challenges you to think and engage with the work (author). You will certainly be doing that.

I purchased this book for school, and I love it so far. I learned so much about the rise and fall of the fashion industry, through the experiences of various fashion designers and participants in this industry. I highly suggest this book if you are a fashion major, or just want to know what the fashion industry is like through fashion experts.

Not at all what i thought it would be but good information.

This book is a must read for people who work in the fashion industry (design, marketing, PR, editorial, advertising, etc) .The author Teri, goes in such great detail about how fashion changed forever. Each chapter reveals a layer of how mass production, licensing, and greed slowly killed the progression of quality fashion.Whether you believe fashion is dead or not, I enjoyed learning about what was going on in the pass 50+ years.(There are some grammar errors in the kindle edition, 😔)

Women have a great investment on the clothing industry. This excellent book will open your eyes to the mega players,their control of the industry, and their obedience to stockholders rather than the customer, it is time the clothing industry recognizesthe customer as the major investor and as an investor/customer rather than a guest invited to spend their money. It is time to bring back creativity rather than uniform type clothing. Reading this book will help buyers to recognize the system and make wiser purchases.

So this is the second book I've purchased on Amazon. This one came faster than I expected which was cool and was in good condition. The only problem I had with it at first was the highlights and underlines that were in the first chapter but it really didn't end up mattering. Actually, it made me feel more comfortable to write in it since I'm reading it for a class. The book itself is amazing and I recommend it to anyone who is studying fashion or fashion business. A little outdated at points but considering it is talking about a specific period in fashion history it's not totally inappropriate.