Stockholm university

Fashion Studies

Fashion studies critically analyses the role of fashion in society. Until recently fashion has been a subject neglected at university level, and research in the area has been partly pursued through association with textile collections in museums of cultural history or through other disciplines in the university.

Subject description

Today, fashion is a growing area of international study, and research in fashion has become an important academic area. The study of fashion can be seen globally from a variety of different perspectives. It can include the study of fashion as seen on the catwalk, in the street, in the home, at work, on a daily basis or in more formal situations.

Through continuous training, you will learn to speak and write about fashion from an academic perspective. Fashion studies is the central area of study if you wish to have a career in the fashion industry, or continue research at post-graduate level.

Courses and programmes

Degree

For a bachelor’s degree in Fashion Studies you can choose to study individual courses or join one of the bachelor’s programmes listed under Educations within the subject.

The bachelor’s degree in Fashion Studies is only offered in Swedish.

Learn more about Swedish language qualification

A master’s degree in Fashion Studies can only be obtained through enrolment in one of the master’s programmes listed under Educations within the subject.

More information about degrees at Stockholm University

Research

Fashion Studies is an interdisciplinary subject that spans both the humanities and the social science research tradition. From the first perspective, the focus is on the cultural meaning and significance of clothing through visual and written representations. Within the social science field, fashion is examined as an industrial product linked to consumption. The two fields merge together in the view of fashion as having both material and immaterial values.

Currently, Fashion Studies includes research and teaching in the areas of fashion history, fashion and gender, fashion as an industry, consumption and sustainability, and fashion and media communication.

Many PhD students have over the years completed their dissertation in Fashion Studies at Stockholm University and we have currently five active PhDs.