https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5533-197X
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Abstract
Globalization, the process of communication and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide, is a central concept in the study of luxury and fashion, both as innovative activity and guide to the future. This article offers readers an encounter with vital developments within globalized luxury fashion and with one of the most important theoretical arguments of the twenty-first century, namely, that globalized luxury fashion is constitutive of the contemporary crisis. In exploring the idea of globalized luxury fashion as integral to the current crisis and its impact, the article traces the American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and luxury fashion designer Kanye West’s (now known simply as “Ye”) beleaguered conflicts with globalized luxury fashion from the point of view of what the Marxist thinker Raymond Williams called “a structure of feeling,” the culture of the present period, or the specific living consequence of all the components in the overall organization. The article concludes with a discussion of Ye’s globalized luxury fashion style through a case study of his work for and ressentiment toward the global luxury fashion brand Louis Vuitton and presents an in-depth understanding of globalized luxury fashion which is essential to anyone reading contemporary critical luxury theory.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Armitage and Roberts, “The Globalisation of Luxury Fashion: The Case of Gucci,” 227–246.
2 Misfits Entertainment, “Kingdom of Dreams.”
3 Beaumont, “Kanye West: God and Monster.”
4 Paton, Friedman, and Testa, “When High Fashion and QAnon Collide.”
5 Sekhon Dhillon and Roberts, “An Exploration of Children’s Understanding of Luxury,” 39–62.
6 Williams, “Preface to Film,” “The Long Revolution,” “Marxism and Literature,” “Politics and Letters: Interviews with New Left Review,” “Problems in Materialism and Culture.”
7 Williams, “Problems in Materialism and Culture.”
8 Williams, “Culture and Society.”
9 Williams, “The Long Revolution.”
10 Williams, “Marxism and Literature.”
11 McGuigan, “Raymond Williams: Cultural Analyst.”
12 Armitage, “Luxury and Visual Culture.”
13 Williams, “Communications,” “Television: Technology and Cultural Form,” “Keywords.”
14 Williams, “The Country and the City.”
15 Higgins, “Raymond Williams: Literature, Marxism, and Cultural Materialism.”
16 Williams, “Preface to Film,” “The Long Revolution,” “Marxism and Literature.”
17 Williams, “The Long Revolution,” 64–66.
18 Williams, “Politics and Letters: Interviews with New Left Review,” 159.
19 Williams, “The Long Revolution,” 65.
20 Williams, “Marxism and Literature,” 132.
21 France, “Kanye West says he no longer supports Trump and that he had coronavirus.”
22 Baudrillard, “For a Critique of the Political Economy of the Sign;” Soper, “Humanism and Anti-Humanism.”
23 Williams, “Marxism and Literature,” 133–134; original emphases.
24 Armitage and Roberts, “Luxury New Media: Euphoria in Unhappiness,” 113–132.
25 Nietzsche, “Thus Spoke Zarathustra.”
26 Wolf, “Kanye West on Louis Vuitton Gig: “It Was Supposed to Be Me.”
27 Kayembe, “Even after lauded debut, Pharrell says ‘Louis Vuitton Don’ title still belongs to Ye.”
28 Kayembe, “Even after lauded debut, Pharrell says ‘Louis Vuitton Don’ title still belongs to Ye.”
Additional information
Notes on contributors
John Armitage
John Armitage is Emeritus Professor of Media Arts at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton, United Kingdom. He is the co-editor, with Joanne Roberts, of Critical Luxury Studies: Art, Design, Media (Edinburgh 2016) and The Third Realm of Luxury: Connecting Real Places and Imaginary Spaces (Bloomsbury 2020), and a member of the editorial board of Luxury Studies: The In Pursuit of Luxury Journal (Intellect). [email protected]