Research Proposal

Research Proposal

Background:

As Berlin start to regain its status of the leading fashion center in Europe, the street fashion scene encompasses various style that incorporates the trend and the unique identity of Berliners. Youth plays a role in creating the Berlin fashion by actively bringing in the global trends but the style should still retain Berlin style in some extent. This energy and creation of Berlin style can be sent to the global community as the fashion leading city. The goal of this research is to explore the style of Berlin fashion of youth and how that style is created within the within the local community and how that is related to the global community.

Research Question

How does the global fashion trends of summer 2008 are treated and incorporated in the Berlin youth fashion scene? In order to articulate the influences in fashion, I need to take a close look at what other fashion are offered in the world, and what are the biggest influences. Two possible outside influences on the Berlin fashion are high-end fashion from the Runway and the American fashion from Hollywood celebrities. Also the different subgroups in the community often create unique style and manifest their own culture in fashion. I want to take a look at the intra-city influences among different groups

Method:

The research is primary done through the observation of the city. I will first take a look at the general trends of the city and work my way down to the fashion of different subgroups. The data collection will be done through the photograph. I am taking a photograph of general population and also asking for an individual snapshot with their approval. Also I will conduct a quick interview at the boutiques in Berlin, mainly asking for what are the trends for this summer, what are some trendy clothes they offer, and who are the target population for their style. I figured that they are more approachable, but I am also also hoping to have an interview to the individuals as well.

In order to efficiently use time at the site, I must conduct a background research of summer trend at another influential fashion centers prior to the arrival at Berlin. I select three different cities, Hollywood (Los Angeles), Tokyo and Paris, to compare the street style in Berlin. First I will take a look at the runway collection of spring/summer 2008 of different cities, which gives me the idea of what high end fashion are offering for this summer, and how they might have influenced the commercial fashion. Then I will take a look at the teen fashion magazines of United Sates and Japan to see what they are offering to the readers. Finally the similar observational study will be conducted at Japan (Shibuya and Harajuku) and Paris (Marais, Les Halles) before arrival at Berlin.

Limitation

There are some limitations of the observational studies, such as biased choice of. Also since the location affects the population present at the site, it is critical to choose a location that local Berlin youth are present and not the tourists. Also because there are infinitely many styles that are present, I must recognize that I am choosing a style which may create some bias.