Designing an Identity: How Everyday Fashion Forms Latino Identity in the United States

This study explores how everyday fashion acts a framework for understanding Latino identity in the United States. By examining the intersection of fashion studies and Latino studies, the research highlights the nuanced ways that Latinos use clothing as a tool for identity formation and expression, using symbolism and community belonging, which is rooted in tradition. Through case studies of individual expressions, the paper reveals how everyday fashion is a form of communication that allows people to negotiate both personal and collective identities. Ultimately, this paper utilizes everyday fashion to understand Latino identity, lives, and communities and their longstanding presence in the United States.