Abstract:
This article argues that processes central to globalization are underpinned by first world women’s entry into the workforce at a time when the nature of work is changing profoundly. This thesis arises out of research on the New Zealand designer fashion industry. An unexpected success story, this export oriented industry is dominated by women as designers, employees, wholesale and public relations agents, industry officials, fashion writers and editors, in addition to the more traditionally gendered roles of garment workers, tastemakers and consumers. Our efforts to analyze the gendered globalization of the NZ designer fashion industry exposed a number of disconnections between women’s positions in this industry and the literatures on globalization, clothing and fashion. We argue the New Zealand designer fashion industry not only embodies new ways of working associated with the movement of first world women into the labor force, but also that its very success is underpinned by these changes. We conclude that more work is needed to explicate links between the first world women’s labor force and globalizing economic processes.
