Critiquing the Eurocentric view of Fashion: Challenging Colonial Constructs and Embracing Fashion's Global Legacy

This essay critiques the dominant Eurocentric perspective in fashion historiography, which has historically positioned Western Europe as the birthplace of fashion while relegating non-Western sartorial traditions to the static category of “traditional costume.” Drawing on the work of scholars such as M. Angela Jansen, Carlo Marco Belfanti, Giulia Calvi, and S. Özüdoğru, the paper deconstructs three central issues: the alleged birth of fashion in 14th-century Europe, the traditional periodization of fashion history, and the binary opposition between “fashion” and “costume.”The essay demonstrates that sophisticated and dynamic dress systems were already present in China, the Ottoman Empire, the Islamic world, and Africa long before Europe’s so-called “fashion revolution.” It argues that the very definition of fashion has been shaped by the structures of colonial modernity, systematically excluding non-Western sartorial traditions from academic and museum discourse. Situated within the framework of decolonial fashion discourse, the paper advocates for a more inclusive and plural approach to fashion history — one that recognizes its inherently global and interconnected nature, and moves beyond Eurocentric definitions to embrace the full diversity of the world’s sartorial legacies.