Fashion, Originality and Style: an Ethnographic Probe into a Fashion Atelier

The thesis "Fashion, Originality and Style: an Ethnographic Probe into a Fashion Atelier" deals with the phenomenon of fashion from the perspective of anthropology and sociology. It's based on the key theoretical approaches that view fashion as a marker of class and competition of wealth, but also as an expression of one's individuality. The thesis also pays attention to the connections between fashion and cultural environment, and the analysis of fashion in the contexts of material culture studies and the shifting perception of the fashion designer and his work. The work on this thesis also included a field research in the fashion atelier of Ivana Follová, a Czech fashion designer. In the course of several months, the daily operations of the atelier were observed together with the influences affecting the production of fashion goods, and the making of designs. Attention was also paid to the regular customers who frequent the fashion atelier and use its services. The research combined collecting data from participant observations and half-structured interviews. The aim of the study was to find out what principles the fashion industry is based on with a special focus on tailor-made fashion, but also to describe the customers of the atelier and their motives for the need of fashion products