cultural and globalization - Centri di Ricerca - Università Cattolica ...

Paper prepared for the Conference “Questioni di Moda”
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, May 7, 2004
THE GLOBALISATION OF CULTURE:
THE FASHION INDUSTRY AS A CASE STUDY
Diana Crane
University of Pennsylvania

Globalization has become an immensely popular topic among social scientists in spite of the fact that the
phenomenon is poorly defined and difficult to research systematically. In this paper, cultural globalization—
as opposed to economic, political, or technological globalization—refers to the transmission or diffusion
across national borders of various forms of media and arts, including decorative or applied arts. I will
examine the production and dissemination of fashion and clothing as a form of cultural globalization.
Surprisingly, there is little agreement or even discussion concerning what constitutes transmission or
diffusion on a global scale. In fact, however, cultural globalization generally refers to cultural products or
artifacts that are circulated among advanced or advancing countries, particularly those that constitute
desirable markets or that possess sufficient levels of income for investment in the arts and in industries that
produce cultural artifacts. It is important to realize that cultural globalization is no longer conceptualized in
terms of the emergence of a homogenized global culture corresponding to a McLuhnian global village.
Instead, cultural globalization is recognized to be a complex and diverse phenomenon consisting of global
cultures in the plural, originating from many different nations and regions.
Assuming that all forms of culture construct and deconstruct social identities and social relations,
cultural globalization raises important and controversial issues concerning its effects on national and local
cultures and the nature of their responses to it. What are the implications for our understanding of cultural
globalization of changes in the character and ownership of international or multinational conglomerates, of
the roles of regional and national cultures in relation to global cultures, and in the complexity of the public’s
responses to global cultures?
My objective in this paper is: (1) to review the principal theoretical models that have been used to
explain or interpret the phenomenon of cultural globalization; and (2) to discuss the current status of these
models in relation to recent literature on the globalization of fashion and clothing industries. The four
models I will discuss are the following: the cultural imperialism thesis, the cultural flows or network model,
reception theory, and a model of national and urban strategies toward cultural globalization (see Figure 1).
My approach will be to confront these models with available evidence which is inevitably incomplete. The
phenomenon of cultural globalization is sufficiently complex that no single theory can be expected to explain
it adequately.
Theoretical models of cultural globalization
The best known model of cultural globalization is cultural imperialism theory. This theory
emerged in the 1960s as part of a Marxist critique of advanced capitalist cultures, including their emphasis on
consumerism and mass communications. Building on ideas from world-systems theory, the theory argues
that the global economic system is dominated by a core of advanced countries while Third World countries
remain at the periphery of the system with little control over their economic and political development
(Tomlinson 1991: 37). Multinational or transnational corporations are key actors in this system, producing
goods, controlling markets, and disseminating products, using similar techniques. The theory is similar to
ideas developed by the Frankfurt School in Germany in the sense that it presupposes a relatively homogenous
‘mass’ culture which is accepted passively and uncritically by ‘mass’ audiences.
The strong version of cultural imperialism theory refers to the imposition upon other countries of a
particular nation’s beliefs, values, knowledge, behavioral norms, and style of life (Salwen 1991). Cultural
imperialism is defined as a kind of cultural domination by powerful nations over weaker nations. It is viewed
as purposeful and intentional because it corresponds to the political interests of the United States and other
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powerful capitalist societies. The effects of this type of cultural domination, reflecting the attitudes and
values of Western, particularly American, capitalist societies, are viewed as extremely pervasive and as
leading to the homogenization of global culture, as suggested by the following comment by an Australian
scholar (White 1983: 120-121): “the Americanization process becomes far more formidable when the
fundamental concepts of a society’s national identity are remodeled in the American image.”
Major forces leading to cultural globalization are economic and organizational factors. Cultural
globalization requires an organizational infrastructure. One form of globalization occurs as a result of the
activities of multinational corporations and conglomerates based in advanced countries. Dominance of a
particular country in the global media marketplace is more a function of economic than cultural factors.
American firms particularly have benefited from the size of their national market and the availability of funds
for investment.
For example, a small number of media conglomerates, based in a few Western countries, dominate
the production and global distribution of film, television, popular music, and book publishing. McChesney
(1999) has documented the existence of a global media market, that has developed as a result of new
technologies and the deregulation of national media industries. This market is oligopolistic. Because of high
production and distribution costs, the level of investment required to enter this market is very high. These
vertically integrated firms make huge profits by selling the same product in different media.
The form of capitalism which has emerged has been called “globalization from above” (Falk, 1999)
because it originated among elites in the West, primarily in the United States. Kellner (1999: 246) identifies a
new postindustrial form of “techno-capitalism…characterized by a decline in the power of the state and
increased power of the market.”
Critics of the cultural imperialism thesis have argued that the term, ‘imperialism’, which can be seen
as the imposition of power from rich to poor, from powerful to weak, implies a degree of political control by
powerful countries that no longer exists. According to Tomlinson (1991: 175): “the idea of imperialism
contains…the notion of a purposeful project: the intended spread of a social system from one center of power
across the globe.” He contrasts imperialism with the concept of ‘globalization’ which suggests
“interconnection and interdependency of all global areas happening in a far less purposeful way.”
In spite of its weaknesses, cultural imperialism remains a useful perspective because it can be used to
analyze the extent to which some national actors have more impact on global culture than others, and
therefore are shaping and reshaping cultural values, identities, and perceptions. Since the scope and
influence of global cultures are rapidly expanding, these are important issues.
In contrast to cultural imperialism theory in which the source of cultural influence is Western
civilization while non-Western and less developed countries are viewed as being on the periphery--as the
receivers of cultural influences--the cultural flows or network model offers an alternative conception of the
transmission process, as a set of influences that are not necessarily originating in the same place or flowing
in the same direction. Receivers may also be originators. In this model, cultural globalization corresponds to
a network with no clearly defined center or periphery (see, for example, Appadurai 1990). Globalization as
an aggregation of cultural flows or networks is a less coherent and unitary process than cultural imperialism
and one in which cultural influences move in many different directions. The effect of these cultural flows,
which Appadurai identifies as consisting of media, technology, ideologies, and ethnicities on recipient
nations is likely to be cultural hybridization rather than homogenization.
Two contradictory trends are operating in the phenomenon of cultural globalization. On the one hand,
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international conglomerates are extending their influence and control over certain types of global culture. On
the other hand, the increasing importance of regions as producers and markets provides support for a
network model of cultural globalization. Regions exhibit sub-networks of denser connections within the
global network but are also linked less strongly to other areas. The impact of Western global cultures is being
offset by the development of regional cultures within global cultures. For example, some scholars claim that
world television is not so much global as regional (Sinclair et al. 1996), consisting of several distinct regions
in which television programming circulates. Regional cultures represent shared communities of language and
culture. Each major region, Asia, Middle East, and Latin America, is dominated by one or two countries that
are centers of audiovisual production, such as, Mexico and Brazil in Latin America, Hong Kong and Taiwan
in Chinese Asia, and India in Indian Asia and Indian Africa. A Francophone market links France to its former
colonies and an Arab market links the Arab-speaking countries.
The popular music industry also fits the network model of cultural globalization in some respects.
The extent of American domination of the music industry has changed in terms of ownership in the past
decade. The relatively low cost of making recordings (compared to television drama and film) and the ways
in which new music is created (which frequently occurs outside the huge corporations that market it), make it
possible for new music to develop in many different countries and at times to compete with the American
product. Today only one of the top five record companies in the global market is owned by an American
conglomerate. Laing (1997) has identified three principal regional or linguistic-based production centers for
popular music that are beginning to compete with Anglo-American music: Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese
in Asia, Spanish-speaking regions in the Americas and Europe, and Continental Europe.
To summarize, the network model views globalization as “a process that is increasing international
dialogue, empowering minorities, and building progressive solidarity (Curran and Park, 2000: 10).” Further
research is required to determine the relative importance that should be attributed to this model in
comparison with the previous model.
A third model, reception theory, has been used to explain responses to cultural globalization by
publics in different countries. This theory hypothesizes that audiences respond actively rather than passively
to mass-mediated culture and that different national, ethnic, and racial groups interpret the same materials
differently. Audience responses to global programming are highly differentiated, depending in part on levels
of exposure to national, regional and global fare and in part on the social characteristics of specific publics.
This model does not view globally disseminated culture as a threat to national or local identities. Availability
of cultural fare, even if it is widely watched, does not necessarily imply that its values and ideological
content are accepted uncritically.
Theories of globalization have stressed two major consequences of globalization, homogenization of
cultures and hybridization of cultures ( Nederveen Pieterse 1995; Robertson 1995). The first concept suggests
that all national cultures will absorb a homogenous global culture and will become increasingly similar while
the second concept suggests that national cultures will assimilate aspects of many other cultures and become
more diverse. Global cultures may render traditional identities less salient or produce hybridized identities as
local cultures absorb and respond to these influences.
A fourth approach which I am proposing focuses on the strategies used by nations, global cities, and
cultural organizations to cope with, counter, or facilitate cultural globalization. Specifically, nations, global
cities, and cultural organizations engage in strategies for preserving and protecting cultures inherited from the
past, strategies for rejuvenating traditional cultures, strategies for resisting cultural globalization, and
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strategies for altering or transforming local and national cultures for global consumption. From this
perspective, cultural globalization is a process that involves competition and negotiation as organizations and
countries attempt to preserve, position, or project their cultures in global space. Countries vary in their
emphasis upon preservation as compared to production of culture for exportation. In this approach, cultural
globalization is seen as a disorderly process, fraught with tension, competition, and conflict.
Understanding national strategies toward cultural globalization requires an understanding of various
aspects of resistance to global cultures. Using taxes, tariffs, and subsidies, many governments attempt to
control channels for the dissemination of imported culture in order to preserve national cultural sovereignty
and national cultural diversity. Both advanced and developing countries have resorted to strategies for
resisting global media cultures. For example, television and film have been subject to import quotas.
Popular music is another area where some countries have resorted to protectionism and various forms of state
assistance to musicians and music industries.
These forms of resistance often lead to political conflicts with countries that are major exporters of
commercial culture as well as with multinational organizations that are concerned with profit rather than the
public interest (Beale, 2002). The American government has strenuously opposed regulations designed to
limit access of American cultural products to foreign markets. It is unwilling to concede that other nations
might be justified in attempting to protect their cultural identities and generally views such measures as
nothing more than protectionism (Sinclair 1996: 51).
Strategies that are used in preparing cultural products for global markets include negotiated
modification in which carefully selected national cultural products, such as television series, are globalized
by editing or revising them to suit the tastes of consumers in other countries whose tastes do not conform to
those of consumers in the country of origin (Bielby and Harrington, 2002). Another approach to preparing
cultural items for export is referred to as global localization or glocalization. Robertson (1995: 28) discusses
the ways in which global genres are adapted for local audiences so that the global blends with the local. This
process does not lead to global homogenization but to a situation where cultural forms, such as soap operas,
that originated in the West and that diffuse globally are adapted to local conditions and primarily carry
messages about local cultures (Straubhaar 1997: 288). Audiences often prefer local imitations of American
popular culture rather than American popular culture itself.
In the following sections, I will attempt to show how these models can be used to increase our
understanding of changes in the level and character of cultural globalization in the fashion and clothing
industries.
Fashion Conglomerates and Global Markets
As we have seen, cultural imperialism today has two components: powerful conglomerates that
dominate cultural industries and cultural images disseminated by these companies to large numbers of
consumers. In the fashion business, this phenomenon can be observed at two levels: in the luxury fashion
industry and in mass markets for fashion-oriented clothes and for specific items, such as sports shoes.
The European luxury fashion industry which is centered in France and Italy is currently dominated by
two large French conglomerates, 1 which own companies belonging to most of the leading designers in
France, Italy, England, and, to a lesser
extent, the United States (Jongkind et al, 2002). Since even very small fashion firms must sell their products
in countries all over the world, globalization gives an advantage to large firms that have ample funds to
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invest in stores and distribution systems in all the major world markets. 2 They are also able to produce
elaborate shows that display designer collections, thereby creating images for brands that sell subsidiary
products, such as perfume and accessories. This is the culmination of a process that has been taking place
since the 1940s (Crane, 1997) in which ownership of fashion firms has passed from designers to businessmen
and profits have been obtained mainly from subsidiary products, that are generally licensed, and only
minimally from clothing itself. In this industry, the cost of entry has become prohibitive for small producers
(Chevalier, 1996; Crane, 1997).
The fashion-oriented clothing market is also dominated by a few large firms, such as Benetton in Italy
and Gap, Guess, Esprit, Tommy Hilfiger, and Levi Strauss in the United States. The global market for
athletic shoes is dominated by Nike, Reebok, and Adidas. 3 These companies produce their products in
buyer-driven commodity chains in which large retail and brand-named merchandisers in advanced countries
design products and set up decentralized networks of companies that produce them in developing countries
(Gereffi, 1994). The United States obtains expensive designer products from other advanced countries, such
as Italy, France, and Japan. Companies selling fashion-oriented clothing and athletic shoes obtain their
products through buyer-driven commodity chains that link advanced countries with many other countries
(Gereffi, 1994). Manufacture of these products is outsourced to countries that vary in their level of
development from established Third World exporters (such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea,
Brazil, Mexico and India) to relatively undeveloped countries that supply the cheapest goods.
In order to be successful in terms of steadily increasing levels of sales, companies in advanced
countries need to be able to control all aspects of the commodity chain. Their control is based on their
capacity to move production to different sites depending on relative prices for manufacturing their goods.
Nike is a good example of such a company (SEE CHART: The Commodity Circuitry of the Nike Shoe).
Goldman and Papson (1998: 8-9) describe the commodity chain as “a set of pulsing power relations, with
power inequalities along the chain defining its character and its outcomes.” The shoes are manufactured by
relatively unskilled laborers in poor countries. As labor costs in specific countries have increased, the firm
has moved to lower wage regions, mainly in Asia. While the company sells its products in approximately
110 countries (p. 6), it considers that their shoes as manufactured in some of these countries have no
commercial value. The market value of the shoes is added by Nike’s design and marketing specialists (p. 12).
This provides Nike and other firms like them with economic power to pay minimum wages that seldom
provide enough for workers in these poor countries to live on.
Benetton also exercises tight control over a global commodity chain in which fifteen factories located
on two continents produce clothing that is sold in over one hundred countries (Hoechsmann, 1997: 189).
Like Nike, Benetton provides the designs and controls the stocks from its headquarters in Northern Italy,
subcontracting them to small, non-union firms in Italy and elsewhere. These procedures keep costs to a
minimum. Like Nike, Benetton is also not considered to be a manufacturer of goods but instead has been
described as “a circulation empire…a powerful marketing machine which transmits commands to a wide
variety of independent producers” (p. 190).
Along with their products, these companies sell “an ideology, set of values, and life style” (Rabach
and Kim, 1994: 137). In postmodern societies, consumption of many products is driven by the consumption
of signs associated with products rather than by needs for the products themselves. Manufacturers of
fashion-oriented clothing, such as Gap and Benetton, engage in expensive and elaborate advertising
campaigns. Companies that sell sports shoes rely almost entirely on advertising campaigns to create the value
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of the product and to attract customers (Goldman and Papson, 1998). According to one analyst of the
market for sports shoes (Korzeniewicz, 1994: 251),
“The most fundamental innovation of these enterprises has been the creation of a market, and this has
entailed the construction of a convincing world of symbols, ideas, and values harnessing the desires
of individuals to the consumption of athletic shoes.”
Because they outsource their production in developing countries, these companies do not consider
themselves as manufacturers. Nike’s argument when the company is criticized for paying very low wages
and using child labor in developing countries is that the manufacturing process does not create a Nike shoe.
Without Nike’s advertising, the shoes are just ordinary shoes. Marketers and designers at the Nike company
argue that they create the value of the product by transforming its meaning.
Cultural imperialism and images of fashion products
How can the images disseminated by these companies be characterized? The social and political
implications of their advertisements are generally subtle rather than blatant. The goal of these advertisements
is different from cultural imperialism in its original form which attempted to impose a world view on foreign
publics and to alter their behavior. Instead these types of advertisements appropriate ideas and images that
are already circulating in national and global cultures and that they either exploit or de-politicize. At least
five types of ideas and images can be identified: (1) exaggerated sexuality; (2) transgressive sexuality; (3)
representations of the body as an instrument for athletic prowess; (4) representations of race and (5)
representations of social, economic, and political issues. The techniques these ads use are typical of
postmodern forms of communication: (1) appropriation (taking imagery and meanings from a wide variety
of referent systems unrelated to fashion and clothing); (2) simulation (substitution of a new image that seems
to resemble but actually replaces the old image); (3) decontextualization (detaching signs from their original
referent systems and creating new referents); (4) metacommunication in which the advertisement contains
messages about the advertisement itself and its strategies as an advertisement. This is intended to overcome
the viewer’s resistance to the ad by treating the consumer, as a collaborator, as a “hip” and active decoder of
ads. These ads often make assumptions about the characteristics and attitudes of the people to whom they
are addressed that are often inappropriate for the people who actually view them, both in western countries
and elsewhere, or for the environments in which they are consumed.
In the case of luxury fashion, the images used to sell these products appear to have undergone a
transformation in recent years. The image traditionally projected by companies that produced haute couture,
the earliest form of luxury fashion, had several distinct characteristics (Roux and Floch, 1996). It was based
on the idea that these products were created from materials of the highest quality and that no expense should
be spared in creating them. The product was expected to exhibit refinement, subtlety and perfect
workmanship. The skills that were required to create these products were highly valued. Clients were
entitled to unlimited amounts of attention with the goal of assisting them to appreciate and enjoy the
products. The goal was a brand that represented an entirely coherent image that was instantly recognizable.
The images projected by some of the recent fashion shows and advertising for the lines of ready-towear
clothes produced by luxury fashion companies no longer refer to these traditional values of haute
couture. Instead, the values have been parodied and subverted in fashion shows by postmodernist designers
using techniques of decontextualization (Crane, 1997). Fashion photography has appropriated blatantly
sexual poses from pornographic publications (Myers, 1987; Steele, 1996) that include sexual cues, such as
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closed eyes, open mouth, legs spread to reveal the genital area, and nudity or semi-nudity, particularly in the
areas of the breasts and genitals. A study of advertisements in fashion magazines covering a ten-year period
from 1985-1994 found a substantial increase in the extent to which parts of women’s bodies were exposed
and their bodies were shown in low-status, animal-like positions (Plous and Neptune, 1997). According to
Lakoff and Scherr (1984: 106), “Modern beauty is deeply embedded in sexual politics—the woman acting
out male fantasies engaging in purposeful provocation.” (SLIDE)
Following a recent trend toward the use of increasingly sexually explicit images in advertisements,
two luxury fashion firms, Gucci and Yves Saint-Laurent, have shown advertisements with either full or
virtually full frontal male and female nudity (Elliott, 2003). The Yves Saint-Laurent firm has created a new
cologne called “Nu”, which is being advertised using images of nude female and male bodies.
Various forms of transgressive sexuality can also be identified in these ads. Possibly the most blatant
example was found in a set of ads created for Calvin Klein jeans in 1995. Teen-age models were dressed
and photographed in seductive poses and in visual and verbal contexts that suggested low-budget
pornographic films (Tucker, 1998). The images were described as legitimating a kind of “hip”
promiscuousness (Giroux, 1998: 35). These ads were an example of the technique of simulation in which
the meanings of teenage, asexual bodies were transformed into desirable objects for adult male consumers
acting as voyeurs.
Another form of transgressive sexuality that has become increasingly pervasive in fashion advertising
and in fashion shows is that of androgyny (Elzingre, 1998; Danflous, 1998) (SLIDE). Models are often
photographed in such a way that they resemble adolescent males whose sexual identity is not clearly
defined and that they appear to be solitary, rebellious, disinterested, and indifferent. Fashion photographers
and editors often attempt to associate images of clothes with references to drugs, crime, violence, and
negative attitudes toward women (Dowd, 1997; Summer, 1996). Images of this kind circulate in music
created by youth cultures and are disseminated by the media.
The success of Nike and other firms selling athletic shoes in the 70s and 80s was due to their
capacity to exploit the “fitness boom”, growth in the popularity of jogging, running, and exercise
(Korzeniewicz, 1994: 254). 4 The values promoted by Nike and other firms selling athletic shoes include
self-improvement, competitiveness, and health (p. 258). Representations of muscled and glowing bodies
have been very important in many of their ads. Nike has used celebrity athletes, both white and black, to
associate their shoes with athletic prowess and success. Television ads have shown athletes running and
playing sports, often exerting their bodies to the utmost in order to achieve success.
Race is a complex and ambiguous theme in many of these ads. The virtual absence of blacks in
luxury fashion advertising, except as tokens among groups composed primarily of whites, is a statement in
itself. The luxury fashion world is oriented toward wealthy elites who are presumed to be white.
However, in many of the ads run by fashion-oriented clothing companies and by athletic shoe
companies, race is an overt or an underlying theme. Images of black celebrity athletes are used as a way of
associating their success with the product. Nike has made extensive use in its advertising of Michael Jordan,
a black celebrity athlete. It even named one of its shoes after him. Critics have claimed that, in these ads,
Michael Jordan is frequently not perceived as “black” or not perceived “as black enough” (Goldman and
Papson, 1998: 101), possibly in the sense that his appearance and behavior does not correspond with
stereotypical images of blackness. Other critics argue that these ads gloss over the problems associated with
blackness in American society. Clothing companies frequently show blacks and whites together in what
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appears to be a “post-race, color blind world: (Gallagher, 2002). Differences in the opportunities available to
whites and blacks are ignored. For example, the problems associated with racial identity are obscured by
using a black athlete of exceptional renown, Michael Jordan, which sends the message that all black men
could have similar success if they chose. 5
Other companies, such as Reboks and Tommy Hilfiger, have appropriated black ghetto speech and
hip hop signifiers and music in their ads, attempting to glamorize them as symbols of resistance and
otherness. Tommy Hilfiger transformed his preppy, WASP clothing style which had been targeted at
conservative, upper middle class white youth into a product that incorporated hip hop trends, such as bright
colors, baggy pants, and hoods and was aimed at a lower middle class black clientele. Dimitriadis and
McCarthy (2000: 181): claim that “race operates here as a critical organizing principle of consumer
mobilization, marketing rationalization, and the calculations of White entrepreneurs.”
One means of attracting attention and attributing value to products is by associating them with
references to pressing social, economic and political issues that are being widely discussed in the media. This
approach has been used by Nike and Benetton. Nike ads have alluded to social problems relating to HIV-
AIDS, physical disabilities, aging, gender equality, and the plight of inner city children. For example, one of
these types of ads featured a noted athlete who was HIV positive and referred to the struggle involved in
continuing competitive sports, in this case running, under these conditions. Other ads have shown disabled
athletes competing in wheel chairs (SLIDE).
These types of ads have been relatively uncontroversial, presumably because they have conveyed an
atmosphere of authenticity. The ads are centered unambiguously around individuals whose identities and
biographies are either explained in the ad or likely to be familiar to viewers. Nike’s identification with
middle class values of achievement, discipline and teamwork probably served to reduce the amount of
controversy that might have been caused by these ads. Attempts to refer to political issues in Nike ads have
been less authentic, in part because Nike is clearly committed to the American political system and in part
because their techniques for using symbols of resistance have been closer to simulation (i.e. substitution of a
new image that seems to resemble but actually replaces the old image) than appropriation. For example,
adapting lines from classic pieces of protest music that called for political revolution for use in an ad
criticizing the commercialization of sports (Goldman and Papson, 1998: 29-31).
Benetton ads have tackled social, political, and economic themes but in a very different manner.
Beginning in 1989, they have presented highly ambiguous and controversial images that can be interpreted as
comments on, for example, racial inequality, HIV-AIDS, deterioration of the environment, and the plight of
refugees. A photograph of a white male arm and a black male arm, handcuffed together was intended by
Benetton’s advertising director to convey the message: “We’re all in this together.” (SLIDE) Instead, it was
interpreted by many as a photograph of a white man arresting a black man and was seen as having racist
implications. Another highly controversial image was that of a man dying of AIDS surrounded by his family
who gave permission for the photograph to be used. (SLIDE) AIDS activists accused Benetton of attempting
to exploit and profit from a tragic situation. Many billboard companies and magazines refused to use the
advertisement. An advertisement that commented on a political issue showed a photograph of a ship crowded
with refugees who were attempting to escape political violence in Albania and who were seeking political
asylum in Italy but were refused. (SLIDE) Other advertisements commented on environmental pollution (a
duck coated with oil after an oil spill) (SLIDE) and poverty in the Third World (a destitute child holding a
white doll).
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The Benetton campaign is notably less upbeat and optimistic than the Nike campaign which
prioritizes people who are coping with problems rather than being overwhelmed by them. Unlike the Nike
ads, human agency is entirely missing in the Benetton ads. The Benetton images are often shocking, tragic, or
ambiguous while the Nike images are reassuring and at times sentimental. Tinic (1997: 9) argues that unlike
most advertisements, including those of Nike which celebrate social community, Benetton ads do not
conform to Schudson’s (1986) interpretation of the content of advertising as a form of “capitalist realism” in
which noncapitalist traditions of social community, such as family, kinship, and friendship are invoked to
sell products. Benetton’s ads do not invoke public and collective values (Tinic, 1997: 9).
This in part explains why the Nike ads are deemed acceptable while the Benetton ads have tended to
be received much more negatively. Some critics point to the hypocritical commodification of social issues
to sell clothing in which the significance of social problems is “minimized or tainted by their association with
the realm of commerce” (Tinic, 1997: 5). Others assert that the failure to contextualize the images
constitutes the aestheticization of human suffering (Hoeschsmann, 1997: 194). The corporation’s ostensible
goal is “encourage thought and discussion about some important issues” while provoking “compassion and
hopefully positive action in regard to these issues” (p. 199). Instead of selling a product they are selling an
image of corporate responsibility, a corporation with a social conscience (Tinic, 1997: 6). They argue that
this is the most appropriate strategy for a corporation which sells products in almost one hundred markets (p.
8).
Tinic (1997: 9) argues that the Benetton ads are actually a combination of advocacy and controversy
advertising. Advocacy advertising is generally used by corporations to promote positions on public policy
issues that will benefit them or on social policy issues that they favor. Controversy advertising is intended to
call attention to a range of positions on a controversial issue. It is meant to suggest that a corporation has a
philosophy. However, Benetton’s failure to provide information or advice about the social problems they
depict in their ads (for example, disease prevention or volunteer programs about AIDS) has made them
susceptible to the charge of engaging in exploitation and cynical manipulation.
An alternative interpretation of Benetton’s failure to assign specific meanings to its controversial
images is that these ads represent a prime example of postmodern decontextualization (p. 12). In a
postmodern environment, in which consumers use products to represent and express themselves, products
can be signifiers of a variety of concepts. One can no longer assume that consumers will expect that
signifiers attached to products will be susceptible to a single interpretation. Ambiguity in advertising is a
consequence of the highly volatile diversification of signifiers in recent decades.
Fashion and Clothing Industries as Networks: Regional Alternatives to Western Fashion Industries
The global clothing industry can be characterized in two ways. On the one hand, it can be seen as
consisting of national clothing industries that specialize in producing and exporting clothing at different
price levels. As we have seen, the global clothing industry also consists of global commodity chains which
superficially resemble networks but in fact conform to a core-periphery model since power is concentrated in
companies located by advanced countries.
Unlike media industries where companies in the Third World are beginning to produce and export
television programs and music, most Third World companies make little contribution to the fashion industry,
other than as suppliers of cheap labor for Western companies and exporters of cheap clothing to the West.
African countries, such as Zambia (Jeter, 2002) and Zimbabwe (Carmody, 1999) provide examples of how
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peripheral countries fare in the global clothing industry. In the early 90s, Zambia’s clothing industry which
consisted of over 140 textile manufacturing firms was decimated when the country opened its economy to
foreign trade on the basis of advice from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Clothing
manufactured in Zambia was replaced by huge shipments of second-hand clothing from the United States.
These western clothes have virtually replaced African clothing for the average person.
To the extent that a global network exists in the fashion industry it is to be found among a small
number of advanced countries (such as France, Italy, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, the U.S., and
Japan) that produce designer clothes and sell them to each other, as well as to a substantial number of other
countries where similar companies would be unable to raise the high levels of investment necessary to
compete in these markets. Fashion produced in each of the countries in the network tends to have specific
features related to specific characteristics of these countries, such as the history of the decorative arts, the
roles of elites and of urban subcultures, and the size and nature of the market for designer clothing. In
France, the high prestige of the decorative arts meant that couturiers aspired to be artists and stressed the
links between haute couture and the arts. In Great Britain, the very steep hierarchy expressed by the social
class structure created an environment which encouraged the development of urban working class subculture.
Working class youth expressed their frustrations by inventing unconventional styles of clothing. Each choice
of a garment or an accessory was seen as a creative act, as part of a practice of subversive consumption.
Punk was the most famous of these urban street styles; it continues to have an enormous amount of influence
on fashion designers. In the U.S., the abundance of life styles at all social class levels seems to have
encouraged designers to market fictitious life styles, that matched the unfulfilled aspirations of certain
segments of the middle and upper middle class.
Global Fashion Cultures and Reception Theory
Some globalization theorists have warned that the dissemination of global cultures will eradicate
differences among national cultures while others have predicted that differences among national cultures will
remain as each national culture becomes a hybrid of global and local cultures. Negus and Roman-Velázquez
(2000) argue that responses to globalization are closely connected to “a sense of place.” In other words,
people’s responses have to be understood in relation to how people perceive specific practices and cultural
identities associated with geographical location or dislocation.
They state (p. 335):
“Culture as a whole way of life, as discursive practices and even as commodified artifacts or
advertising images, is far more than a static thing that is carried or flows unchangeably throughout
history. Cultures are lived and cultural identities established, made and remade constantly…”
Responses to clothing are probably influenced primarily by our perceptions of our subjective
identities. Identities derived from the cultural characteristics of specific neighborhoods, towns, or cities
undoubtedly play a role. Finally, collective identification with “the imagined community” of a country may
also influence our reactions to clothing, specifically as these identities incorporate religious, traditional or
modern attitudes and values.
A rare study of consumers’ responses to luxury goods has implications for how consumers in
different countries might perceive clothing (Dubois and Laurent, 1996). The study was based on 1000
interviews with students at the university level in ten European countries, plus the United States and
Australia. The study identified four types of attitudes toward the consumption of luxury goods: elitism,
11

democratization, aversion, and distance. Elitists had very favorable attitudes toward luxury products. They
believed that luxury goods should be available only to a minority of the population and should not be sold in
mass markets, such as supermarkets. Democrats also had very favorable attitudes toward luxury products
but were more likely to say that these types of products were and should be readily available to everyone.
Rejecters had very negative attitudes toward luxury products and toward the people who bought them. They
never purchased such products and considered them useless. A fourth group appeared to distance themselves
from these types of products. They had relatively positive attitudes toward luxury products but were not
interested in buying them. Like the elitists, they viewed access to these products as being reserved for a
minority of the population. Unlike the elitists, they did not consider that they belonged to this group.
There was a strong association between nationality and expression of these types of attitudes (Dubois
and Laurent, 1996: 40). Respondents from Scandinavian countries were most likely to express democratic
attitudes toward luxury products. Respondents from France and Eastern Europe tended to be elitist, while
respondents from Belgium and Spain attempted to distance themselves from these types of products. In
Germany, Austria, and the United States, none of these points of view was expressed by a clear majority of
the sample. Virtually all the respondents who expressed a strong aversion to luxury products were located in
Australia. Other studies of the Australian population suggest that this type of aversion is related to
puritanical religious views, but these negative attitudes may not actually correspond to behavior. Australians
apparently dislike the idea of luxury goods but buy luxury products without identifying them as such.
Unfortunately, we know very little about how people in different countries respond to fashionoriented
clothing and athletic shoes that are sold in global markets. Companies like Nike and Benetton sell
their products in over one hundred countries which suggests that tastes for these types of goods are
remarkably similar. Benetton claims that it never attempts to impose styles on the public. Their design
director has been quoted as saying (Piganeau, 1989), “There is no question of imposing a style on the public.
On the contrary, it is necessary to perceive and to anticipate hidden demand, to be totally guided by demand.”
To do this, Benetton designers travel constantly, visiting sites their customers frequent, such as schools and
universities. Fashion forecasters deliberately monitor tourist sites where groups of young people gather in an
attempt to discover promising trends in the making.
The existence of urban street cultures in some Western countries (Polhemus, 1994) suggests that the
complete homogenization of clothing styles is unlikely to occur. Styles developed by clothing firms are
likely to be subjected to modification based on styles that emerge spontaneously in the street, often
associated with new styles of music. These modifications are sometimes appropriated by fashion designers
and disseminated widely. Alternatively, some street clothing is based on the use of prestigious fashion labels
(de la Haye and Dingwall, 1996). When the items are unattainable, members of these types of subcultures
sometime resort to copies made by local tailors, a phenomenon known as ‘ghetto couture’.
What does it mean when people choose to wear clothes that are identified with another national
culture? Clothes like other goods are believed to be “culturally marked”; they are representations of
ideologies and styles of life that circulate in the countries where they originate. One result of globalization
has been that “the origin of new cultural items is becoming a core aspect of the meanings they have to us”
(Hannerz, 1992: 218). The significance of clothing in countries to which they are exported may or may not
be different from its significance in its country of origin. In the late 1960s, American products in general and
clothes in particular were caught up in a romantic image of freedom and social change. In the 1968, when
French students were asked why young people dressed in American styles (blue jeans, sneakers, sweat shirts,
12

aseball caps, etc.), they said they were fun, relaxed, informal and like a fantasy (cited in Fantasia, 1995:
220).
Since then, we have seen the emergence of a kind of transnational clothing culture in which certain
types of items that are widely worn cease to refer to particular identities, either social or territorial .
Cuisenier (1994: 18) suggests that “they conform to norms of taste and aesthetic canons that are perceived
as universal.” Specific items such as sweat shirts or jeans do not distinguish a Frenchman from an American
or from an Englishman. Lacking value as emblems of a specific culture, they are nevertheless universally
desirable. As such, they disguise as much as they reveal the nature of people’s actual symbolic investments in
them.
The case of India represents a revealing example of the issues involved in adopting clothing styles
that are very different in nature from those that are indigenous to the country. In this situation, wearing
Western clothes may be said to involve an experience of the loss of one’s old self and the adoption of a new
self. It has something in common with the kind of ‘cultural decontextualization’ experienced by patrons of
McDonalds’ restaurants in Europe or Asia, a kind of ‘instant emigration’ where local rules seem not to apply
(Stephenson, 1989).
Western clothing has a long history in India, beginning in the 19 th century (Tarlo, 1996). It was
gradually adopted, first by members of the middle and upper classes and last by the poorest classes, although
some groups of people have continued to wear Indian clothing. Ironically, as Western clothing has been
disseminated downward, the indigenous styles of clothing worn by the poor have been readapted for use by
the upper and middle classes. India has its own fashion industry including fashion designers trained in
Western fashion centers, selling Western-style clothes in expensive boutiques. In the early 1980s, their styles
included so-called ethnic clothes, based on styles originally worn in poor villages, which sold for the usual
prices of designer clothes. The Indian designers of these clothes were so accustomed to Western clothing,
having lived and traveled abroad extensively, that they looked upon Indian indigenous clothing “through
foreign eyes”, and not from the perspective of someone who shared the same culture. Access to these ethnic
styles was effectively limited to the upper classes. Worn by the upper class, the styles signified fashion but
worn by peasants, they signified backwardness (p. 317).
Some information is available about how people in different countries have responded to images in
global advertisements for clothing companies. Responses to Benetton’s highly controversial images varied
in different countries, depending on different social, cultural, and political contexts. For example, an image
of a black woman breast feeding a white baby (SLIDE) was not used in the United States because
advertising executives feared that it would be perceived as having negative connotations of black women as
slaves being forced to nurse white babies. However, the ad was run in 77 other countries and won large
numbers of awards in Europe. Hoechsmann (1997: 197) claims that people living in the global South have
reacted very negatively to Benetton’s emphasis on poverty and human crises in those regions. (SLIDE) He
says that the campaign is perceived as “intrusive, patronizing, and humiliating.” To people in the global
South, Benetton’s version of social and political consciousness appears to be geared toward young people in
the global North who are more advantaged economically.
Information about responses to advertisements with racial implications is available primarily for the
United States. Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Timberland, and other companies have deliberately targeted urban
African Americans in their advertising and marketing campaigns (Korzeniewicz, 1994: 258). Nike’s use of
black celebrity athletes and realistic images of black ghettoes has been a very successful marketing device,
13

linking its products to what one author calls “the deepest fantasies black men have of themselves” (Goldman
and Papson, 1998: 55). African Americans constitute a substantial percentage of Nike’s customers
(SLIDES:NIKE ads). Unfortunately these ads have created desires that many young consumers did not have
the means to fulfill. Some black adolescents stole shoes or stole money to buy shoes. Nike has been accused
of profiting from sales to African Americans derived from drug and gang money and of ignoring the
problems of the poor, black communities where these consumers are located.
Tommy Hilfiger’s company successfully used hip hop musicians and black film stars to develop a
lower middle class black clientele for their clothing However, this approach produced a backlash among
African Americans (Dimitriadis and McCarthy, 2000: 178). Some blacks were infuriated by what they
regarded as the appropriation of the cultural property of black adolescents. They questioned whether poor
black boys should buy expensive Hilfiger clothing. Rumors circulated in the black community via Web
pages and bootleg T-shirts to the effect that Hilfiger was racist. Although Hilfiger eventually responded
publicly to these rumors, they led to a black boycott of his products. Dimitriadis and McCarthy (2000: 176)
argue that these rumors gave black consumers “some feeling of control in their lives…in the market and the
field of media representation.”
Black advertising imagery has been successful in selling clothing in other countries. Kaplan (2002:
201) observed the fashion scene in Florence (Italy) in the late 1990s and found that publicity for numerous
local lines of clothing used themes from hip hop and presented models against urban backdrops of graffiti.
Sneakers from Nike and other American brands were ubiquitous. Kaplan argues that in these ads blacks are
“a synecdoche for America, which in turn can be understood to represent…consumer freedom, expressive
freedom.” (p. 202) These ads suggest “an exotic, transgressive Other”, blacks as being more in touch with
their sexual desires and with nature. He concludes that it would be a mistake to interpret these types of
phenomena using cultural imperialism theory which tends to assume that cultural phenomena are simply
imposed upon other cultures. Instead, he argues, people on the receiving end appropriate aspects of another
culture for a variety of motives stemming from local concerns. In this case, he suggests that black imagery
provides a basis for the elaboration of new group identities in the Italian environment (SLIDE: Russia).
In spite of the enormous sales of their products, these clothing and shoe companies eventually faced
an international social movement that attacked their use of cheap contractors in Third World countries paying
low wages to manufacture their products. In certain countries, such as China and Indonesia, wages paid by
contractors
for these companies have been well below the hourly wage (e.g. $.87 per hour in 1998 in China) that would
provide workers with sufficient income to live on (see TABLE: CHINA) (Klein, 2001: 212). These
companies tend to be located in so-called “free trade zones” within developing countries where factory
environments are oppressive and living conditions are rudimentary. Unionization and worker protests are
severely repressed.
Because its successful advertising has made Nike exceptionally visible, protest groups have focused
particularly on Nike’s relationships with foreign contractors. Protest groups in several countries have
attempted to raise public awareness of Nike’s labor policies by organizing specific events such as the
‘International Nike Day of Action’. In one such event, eighty-five cities in thirteen countries participated (p.
366). In the U.S.,
PUSH (People United To Save Humanity) called for a boycott of Nike products on the basis of the negative
effects of the companies’ policies in the inner cities (Korzeniewicz, 1994: 263). The Internet has played an
14

important role in the dissemination of information about Nike and about protests against Nike. Anti-Nike
NGOs in Europe, Asia, the U.S., Canada and Australia have been active on the Web (Klein, 2001: 393).
These activities seriously affected Nike’s business; sales, profits, and stock prices declined in the late 1990s
(p. 378).
One author (Brooks, 2002) argues that international protests against sweatshops rely on a style of
image-making that has analogies to images disseminated internationally by advertising. She says: “Certain
women’s bodies are used to market jeans, while others are used for protesting. Still others are used to
produce the jeans and to produce the narrative of victim/model for the benefit of U.S.-based leftists.”
National and International Policies toward Globalization in the Fashion and Clothing Industries
In developed countries, policies for the clothing industry have been mainly concerned with protecting
national industries from foreign imports. These types of policies have existed for decades. Protectionist
measures, such as quotas and tariffs, play an important role in the location of apparel production in global
commodity chains (Gereffi, 1994: 101). Production of apparel in developing countries moves from country
to country in order to bypass import quotas directed toward countries in which the previous suppliers of
companies in developed countries were located. The importance of the apparel industry in developing
countries is suggested by the fact that in Bangladesh the industry earns more than 70% of the country’s total
income from exports (Dowlah, 1999: 934). Bangladesh, along with Indonesia, Mauritius, and Sri Lanka,
have been labeled “clothing economies” (Majmuder, 1996: 31).
In the past half century, there have also been major agreements among countries that provided for
regulation of the clothing industry on the international level. These agreements have set quantitative
restrictions on imports of clothing products which were highly discriminatory at the country and product
level. Under the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing negotiated in connection with the Uruguay Round of
GATT in 1993, elimination of these quotas will occur by 2005, although it is believed that textile and
clothing protection will be maintained in a variety of other ways (Reinert, 2000: 41). The original motivation
for the elimination of quotas in clothing imports was intended to equalize opportunities for participation in
clothing markets for different countries. The rise of China as a global exporter of all types of clothing
suggests an alternative outcome, one in which China will dominate the clothing markets of both developed
and less developed countries (Plafker, 2004).
In the developed countries, national governments have not responded in a meaningful way to
extensive protests against the practices of multinational clothing and shoe firms (Klein, 2001: 410). Instead,
in the U.S., some states, cities, and town have passed legislation forbidding purchases of goods from
companies whose products are manufactured under sweatshop conditions in developing countries. These
types of policies are known as ‘selective purchasing agreements’ and ‘anti-sweatshop ordinances’ (pp. 411-
412). Similar types of legislation have been passed in some towns and cities in Canada and Australia. These
activities have been perceived by multinationals as so threatening that they have created their own lobbying
organizations to fight these laws in the courts, in legislative bodies, and through the World Trade
Organization. The latter is opposed to any attempts to control corporate manufacturing practices.
In Third World countries, any meaningful change in conditions surrounding the manufacture of
clothing is likely to occur as a result of interventions by IGOS and INGOs. UNICEF and the International
Labor Organization in collaboration with apparel industry associations in Bangladesh have been able to
15

improve the situation of child laborers in that country (Shailor, 2001). A similar type of intervention
contributed to the elimination of child labor in the rug manufacturing industry in India (Chowdry and
Beeman, 2001).
In spite of considerable controversy in some cases, little attempt has been made to control the
characteristics of advertising used by apparel and shoe companies. For example, there have been few
attempts to ban Benetton’s controversial ads. An ad showing an interracial group of children sticking out
their tongues that seems innocuous in Western countries was banned in Arab countries because Muslim
culture does not allow photographic representations of internal organs ( SLIDE). Several Benetton ads,
including the photograph of the AIDS victim surrounded by his family, were banned by a court order from
billboards in Germany (Tinic, 1997: 6). A French advertising surveillance organization recommended
banning Benetton’s “small world” ads on the grounds that publicity should not show human distress,
disarray or death but the recommendation was not implemented (p. 6).
In a case that is unusual in comparison with other countries, the New Zealand Advertising Standards
Complaints Board (ASCB) ruled that a Nike commercial constituted offensive advertising as defined by their
codes for offensive advertising (Grainger and Jackson, 1999). The company was required to withdraw the ad.
It showed a rugby football coach inciting his team to treat their opponents as their worst enemy. The scene
was interspersed with scenes of players violently tackling individuals who represented their worst enemies,
such as a traffic warden and an Australian talk show host. The absence from the commercial of the product
being sold was another factor that was seen by the Board as detracting from the acceptability of the ad.
Although the ad was framed as a spoof, the ASCB claimed that it could incite violence, particularly in sports.
These cases suggest that countries vary considerably in their levels of resistance to global advertising
images. National traditions and public attitudes affect the ways in which advertising images are interpreted.
National regulation of this type of advertising is possible, even if it rarely occurs.
Finally, examples of negotiated modification and glocalization undoubtedly exist. Benetton claims
that each season, major trends and specific fads are sold on a worldwide scale but have to be adapted to the
characteristics of customers in different countries. In a reversal of the frequent West-East trend, what inspired
Indian designers to reinvent ethnic styles (see above) was interest shown in these styles in the West (Tarlo,
1996: 298-299). These Indian designers admitted that they looked upon these styles in India through
“foreign eyes” with the idea of creating something that could be marketed to foreigners. In other words, a
kind of “negotiated modification” took place in which Indian indigenous styles were adapted for foreign
markets by Indian designers who had traveled and lived abroad.
Conclusion
What can one conclude about the relevance of these four models for understanding fashion and
clothing as a form of globally disseminated cultures? First, it is necessary to reconceptualize the cultural
imperialism model since the motivation for cultural dissemination is economic rather than political. As such,
however, images disseminated in fashion and clothing advertising have social and political implications. Like
other forms of global culture, the dissemination of fashion and clothing is dominated by and in the future
will increasingly be dominated by conglomerates and multinational firms based in the West, and thus
corresponds to a center-periphery configuration.
The second model, the cultural flows or network model, predicts a larger role for regional cultures,
particularly Third World countries. Unfortunately, the enormous influence of multinational fashion and
clothing firms restricts the role of Third World countries largely to the manufacture of products designed in
16

the West. However, the luxury fashion industry fits the network model in some respects. A small number of
advanced countries exchange luxury products, particularly fashionable clothing. They also sell these products
to countries outside the network. In the future, the network model should be increasingly relevant to the
study of cultural globalization as more regions and more countries produce more culture and send it to other
countries. A truly global culture that mingles cultural traditions and social values from many different
countries has yet to emerge.
The nature of the public's responses to global culture in different countries and in different settings
within different countries needs to be understood using reception theory, which examines both the
responses of specific publics as well as the relationships between imported cultures and national cultures.
Responses of specific publics can be understood in relation to their perceptions of their subjective identities,
their identities derived from the cultural characteristics of neighborhoods, towns, and cities, and their
collective identification with the “imagined community” of a country. Attitudes toward luxury goods have
been shown to vary considerably by country. Attitudes toward fashion-oriented clothing vary depending
upon whether the clothing is perceived as a local product, a foreign import, or a transnational product that has
lost its identification with a specific country. Resistance toward the international dissemination of clothing
products has been expressed through an international social movement against sweatshops.
Finally, the fourth model is concerned with the strategies that are open to national governments and
to international governmental and nongovernmental organizations for responding to the impacts of globally
disseminated culture. Unfortunately, a major strategy among the developed countries has been that of
restricting clothing imports from Third World countries that are not produced under contract with Western
firms. Western countries, particularly the United States, have attempted to control global markets and to
diminish competition for their products.
To conclude, each of these four models is useful for explaining specific aspects of the global
dissemination of fashion and clothing. Since cultural globalization is not static but an ongoing process whose
dimensions are continually evolving and changing and whose consequences are difficult to predict, we can
expect that these models will continue to evolve and hopefully that new models will emerge.
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Endnotes
1 These conglomerates are LVMH (Louis Vuitton, Moët-Hennessy) and Pinault-Printemps-Redoute.
2 In 1995, 25% of sales by luxury fashion companies in France were in France itself, 21% in the rest of
Europe, 12% in the United States, and 35% in Asia (Roux and Floch, 1996: 16).
3 The U.S. market for athletic shoes is dominated by an oligopoly of four firms, Nike, Reebok, Adidas and
Fila (Goldman and Papson, 1998: 4).
4 Nike began producing sports clothes and sunglasses in the 1990s (Goldman and Papson, 1998:178).
5 A similar argument is made concerning the effects of the Cosby show (Jhally and Lewis, 1992).
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