An introduction

This collection of contributions was created to prove both the complexity of the contemporary fashion system as well as the richness and openness of an interdisciplinary approach to the field, that is the same that inspires the Master programme in Fashion Studies at Sapienza, University of Rome. All the authors – either scholars or professionals in their fields – are deeply involved in this educational project and they have conceived each contribution as a pedagogic tool for supporting students in better understanding the social, cultural, economic, technological, creative, environmental aspects of fashion. Therefore, this collection aimed at providing readers with a kaleidoscopic approach, a multitude of voices and perspectives; a set of blended methodologies as well as theories that try to address the challenges of the permanent and accelerating transformations of the fashion system. To understand the future of fashion we have to foster creative as well as critical thinking, working on the knowledge we got from the past and identifying changes in advance, in order to be ready – and prepared – for the challenges that are in front of us.