Thesis title: Retro Trend among Young Adults in Italy: Perspective on Temporality
Titled “Retro Trend among Young Adults in Italy: Perspective on Temporality” this thesis is aimed towards examining the relationship with past, present and future, using a contemporary fashion trend as a prism. Framed within the field of sociology, this work understands fashion as a materiality, in this case the clothes, that is attributed with meanings and values (Kawamura, 2005; Crane & Bovone, 2006). Given that the focus is on one particular fashion or trend – retro – that visually, but sometimes also materially, recalls past, the question that arises is can attributed meanings and values tell us something regarding relationship with past. Furthermore, the ambition and scope of this project do not stop there. Assuming that temporal dimensions – past, present and future - and relationship with them are intertwined and mutually influence each other in rather dynamic entanglement, what will be examined as well are the experience of present and orientation towards future. As a theoretical basis and orientation, besides existing literature that is dealing with retro trend or some of its aspects, I started from the work of three philosophers, two of them classical, whose reflections touch upon relationship between fashion and temporality: Georg Simmel, Walter Benjamin and Giorgio Agamben. However, even though the point of departure could be considered as philosophical, what this thesis qualifies as sociological is approach to their ideas which are related to research focus. Namely, in order to examine relationship with temporality in case of one particular trend, I have conducted 20 biographical interviews with young people who live in Italy and who wear clothes that could be qualified as retro. Therefore, through the “dialogue” and “polylogue” of research material and existing literature, this dissertation is aimed at understanding the nature of relationships with past, present and future, presuming that they are interwoven in the symbolical threads of retro trend.