This course focuses on the history and theory of contemporary fashion. It weaves together the story of how fashion developed since Christian Dior's New Look in 1947. We will look at key figures and major developments in Western fashion since World War ll, from the futuristic visions of André Courregés and Pierre Cardin, to the punk revolution of Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood, to the Japanese avant-gardists Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto, to the Antwerp Six and Martin Margiela, to the minimalism of Helmut Lang and Jil Sander, to the rise of corporate fashion, all of which have shaped the fashion system we see today. Fashion does not exist in a vacuum, and the will also examine key historical cultural and economic trends, such as the rise of the modern cities, creation of youth culture, with its attendant subcultures such as punk and hip-hop, the rise of queer culture and Camp, and so on. The theory part of the course, through the readings of texts from Charles Baudelaire and Thorstein Veblen to Guy Debord and Jean Baudrillard will allow the students to better understand how the contemporary fashion production and consumption system has been formed through conspicuous consumption and status display, manufacturing demand via meta-goods, and simulation of lifestyles on social media.