Psychology of Fashion: Making Fashion Work for You (Goldsmiths Short Course Feb-March 2023)

The fashion industry is an important global economy, employing millions worldwide. People engage with fashion at every level, as designer, retailer, consumer. If we hope to understand our relationship with fashion, we need to look to psychology.

To avoid disappointment, please book your place on the course 72 hours prior to its commencement.

This course explores the psychological processes that underpin behaviour in the broad context of fashion. From sensation and perception through self and identity, consumer behaviour, social responsibility, to bias, representation and inclusion, we discuss how understanding fashion and behaviours we will encounter, can work for us.

Fashion matters! We all wear clothes, yet until recently, the influence of clothing on human behaviour has been largely neglected by Psychologists. Given the economic importance of fashion, and its increasing influence socially and psychologically, fashion psychology is becoming an acknowledged discipline in its own right.

In this course, we will explore the reciprocal relationships between fashion and psychology using established psychological theories and findings from peer-reviewed journals to introduce evidence-based discussions. We investigate how psychological theories help explain and predict how we behave in relation to fashion, considering the complex cognitive processes involved in our perceptions of fashion and resultant consumer behaviour; how our need for self-esteem and social identity are played out through our clothing; how social media affects the industry and individuals; and how we can navigate our experience of fashion to make our voices heard.

We will also examine the role the fashion industry and fashion consumers can play in meeting their social responsibilities. We will investigate how the fashion industry and consumers can bring about change in ethical behaviour both social and enviromental. We will address how we might be able alleviate existing issues through a better understanding of human behaviour pertaining to informational cascades and unconscious bias. We will also consider mental health and wellbeing, and how this can be compromised in particular professions within the industry whilst investigating findings from the world of emotional intelligence to fortify our new thinking and risk-taking in pursuit of pro-social change.

This course explores the psychological processes that underpin behaviour:

• Discover how psychology can be applied in the context of fashion
• Explore the relationships between fashion, self and identity
• Learn to understand consumer motivations
• Examine how the fashion industry approaches social responsibility
• Discover a new language to make fashion work for you

Fees

Standard: £370 Early Bird: £314.50

Goldsmiths offers a 15% concession rate on short courses to Lewisham Local cardholders, Students and Goldsmiths Alumni. Please note these concessions cannot be applied to early bird bookings.

Booking information

Disability Support

We are committed to providing reasonable teaching adjustments for students with disabilities that may impact on their learning experience. If you require adjustments, please contact us at [email protected] so we can respond to your requests as soon as possible.

Please note our short courses sell-out quickly, so early booking is advisable.

Enquiries

If you have any questions about this course please contact shortcourses (@gold.ac.uk).

For information on our upcoming short courses please sign up to our mailing list.

Location

Online

Tutor information