General Call for Papers
All original manuscript submissions must include full metadata – abstract, keywords, contributor biography and contact details – and follow Intellect's house style. Please read the journal's Notes for Contributors before submitting.
All articles submitted should be original work and must not be under consideration by other publications.
Fashion, Style & Popular Culture is concerned with style, fashion, clothing, design, and related trends, as well as appearances and consumption as they relate to popular culture. Scholarship using and/or including: historical, manufacturing, aesthetics, marketing, branding, merchandising, retailing, psychological/ sociological aspects of dress, body image, and cultural identities, in addition to any areas topics such as purchasing, shopping, and the ways in which consumers construct identities are welcome.
Papers from all research methods and disciplines are welcome! Innovative and new popular culture research, scholarship and creative works in the areas of fashion, design, style, the body and consumerism are encouraged!
Please email manuscripts of 5000–8000 words to our editor Joseph H. Hancock, Ph.D. at joseph.h.hancock@drexel.edu. Only manuscripts in Word doc format will be accepted – please do not send PDFs.
Call for Reviews
Fashion, Style & Popular Culture seeks scholastic reviews on the latest books, movies, media, museum exhibitions, musical groups and performers, retailing stores, global fashion events, merchandising techniques and styles as they relate to our journal. If you have something you would like us to review or a review that you would like to write, please send your inquiry to Jessica Strubel at Jessica.Strubel@unt.edu.
All images need to be included with ALL SUBMISSIONS. Authors are responsible for copyright permissions.
Journal contributors will receive a free PDF copy of their final work upon publication.
Special Issue Call for Papers
‘Dressing through Pandemics’
Guest Editor: Dr Elizabeth Kealy-Morris, Manchester Fashion Institute, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
On 11 March 2020, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was characterized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Sixteen years earlier, in February 2003, the SARS-CoV-1 (SARS) virus was identified during an outbreak in China and declared a pandemic soon after. From its origins in China in December 2019, COVID-19 quickly spread to the West where there was little collective memory nor public health experience containing a pandemic. To limit the transmission of the virus while vaccines were still unavailable, lockdowns were imposed around the world. Society was turned upside down in ways that often felt traumatic: new ways of living, communicating, learning, working and dressing were imposed overnight. Much has been written about important medical aspects of both pandemics, but little discourse has been shared regarding the ways in which fashion, style and popular culture were disrupted and changed through pandemic experiences.
This Special Issue develops a multidisciplinary discourse which reflects and extends awareness and appreciation for the ways in which the pandemics altered and transformed our wardrobes, clothing consumption, ways of dressing and even the purpose of clothing. Research would be welcomed into the ways in which SARS, COVID-19 and other pandemics brought a new appreciation of clothing as safety and shield, and recognition that protective apparel manufacturing is an essential industry to public health initiatives with moral imperatives to act civically. Discussions into how lives lived online and in lockdown changed behaviour towards how fashion was consumed and worn would be valued. Additionally, the editor would appreciate research into the differing behaviours and belief systems regarding medical mask wearing in East Asian culture versus the West where mask wearing as a public health initiative was unique to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Possible topics include but are not limited to:
- Clothing and dress as protection
- Home sewing PPE and communities of practice
- Online fashion consumption
- Fashion brands’ remote experiential marketing strategies
- Fashion houses dedicating machine time to PPE production
- Developing a ‘waist up wardrobe’ for Zoom calls
- The rise and rise of leisurewear during lockdowns
- Cloth is not neutral (1): The medical mask as fashion accessory and protector
- Cloth is not neutral (2): The politicization of the medical mask
- The medical mask as a welcomed shield for people with facial disfigurements and dermatological issues
- Cultural attitude to medical mask wearing: Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) versus Community Protective Equipment (CPE)
- Lessons of the Spanish Flu pandemic: the medical mask introduced into popular culture.
- The troubled history of face coverings in the US – issues of racist aggression, profiling, discrimination, and the effects on personal health and public health initiatives
- Designing masks we want to wear
- Case studies of knowledge transfer initiatives between sectors to solve issues of design, supply, and distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kit
Full papers should be sent to Elizabeth Kealy-Morris, Manchester Fashion Institute at
E.Kealy-Morris@mmu.ac.uk no later than 1 September 2024. All manuscripts are double-blind peer reviewed.
Papers will be accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed as such. Questions regarding the journal should be sent to Joseph H. Hancock II at joseph.hancockii@gmail.com.
'Products as Fashion'
Guest Editor: June He, Drexel University, USA
As most of us know, fashion is not just clothing; in conversations about products, our usual starting point is their design and functionality. Following that, we take into account aspects like aesthetics and branding before purchasing them and adding them to our personal collection. In discussions about fashion, we tend to consider factors such as personal expression, current trends and societal implications. Throughout history, human civilization has witnessed a rich array of commodities serving as expressions of individualistic tastes, encompassing attire, footwear, accessories, and jewellery. In the contemporary era, with the rapid development of science and technology, intelligent wearable products such as digital watches, wristbands and eyewear have emerged. These not only enhance everyday practicality, but also incorporate personalized customization to cater to user preferences.
With increasing frequency, people use products as a form of fashion to display their social position and personal values. As human needs become more individualized and technologies like artificial intelligence and 3D printing continue to advance, it's important to explore how to bring together product and fashion design to create novel and innovative solutions moving forward, and integrate the technologies used in both fields. This Special Issue of Fashion, Style & Popular Culture invites writers to explore the evolution of products as fashion in the history of human civilization, within the context of various cultures, ethnicities and geographical locations, as well as consumer identities and future trends.
Potential topics regarding Products as Fashion include:
- History
- Speculative design
- Wearable products and fashion
- Sustainability
- Consumer fashion in product design
- Materials and manufacturing methods
- Technology
- Traditional craftsmanship
- Global trend
- Customization
- Culture and identity
- Product semantics
- Ethnicity and race
Manuscripts should be approximately 5000 words and prepared using the Intellect House Style, which may be accessed at:
https://www.intellectbooks.com/asset/1255/house-style-guide-5th-ed-2021.pdf
Deadline for submissions: 1 December 2024
Manuscripts will not be considered unless they follow Intellect guidelines.
Manuscripts are accepted on a rolling basis and are reviewed as they arrive. All manuscripts are double-blind peer reviewed for acceptance into the journal.
Please send manuscripts to June He, Drexel University at: jh3943@drexel.edu
For questions regarding submissions or enquiries regarding the journal, Fashion, Style & Popular
Culture, please contact Principal Editor, Joseph Hancock: joseph.hancockii@gmail.com
‘Artificial Intelligence: Design, Production, Media and Consumers’
Guest Editors: Catharine Weiss, Lasell University, USA and Mary Ruppert, Washington University, St. Louis, USA
With the success of two previous issues of Fashion, Style & Popular Culture (FSPC) on Fashion Innovation and Merchandising Technologies we now introduce a third on artificial intelligence. This volume will address artificial intelligence (AI), exploring how AI influences fashion creativity and design, how curated and digital consumption now takes place, and how the interconnected relationship between technology, brand delivery, and data collection manifests within fashion and retail. The edition will emphasize how contemporary technology will modify the creative element for fashion designers and content developers, and lead to new ways of delivering refined consumer information. The publication will be a compilation of scholarly research designed around a central theme under three distinct categories, producing holistic and relevant content. Whether it’s in the way we create and develop products and digital content and experiences through AI, how trends are captured through algorithms or ways digital fashion is delivered to and engaged by consumers through their devices, this volume will continue to reflect the zeitgeist of fashion and how it now runs parallel with technology. Topics can include, but are not limited to:
AI and Design/Production
- AI for accelerated design processes
- Smarter production capabilities based on more refined forecasting and inventory analysis
- Sustainable solutions for development and production
- AI-generated product design, logos, and branding
- Ethical aspects of AI-generated content
- AI for creative inspiration and mood board
AI and The Media
- Cultural movements and consumer engagement in the technological world
- AI and the changing nature of content and copywriting
- Social media and the curated message
- Branding and digital creations
- Personalized experiences, Open AI and memory
- AI agents
- Deep fakes
- Content that sways opinion (fake content)
- Generated reviews and consumer communication
AI and The Consumer
- Trend forecasting, detection, and projections
- Cultural movements and consumer engagement
- Digital shopping experiences and customer service
- Personalized digital deliveries and curations
- Chatbot integrations into websites for better customer engagement
Deadline for manuscripts of 5000–6000 words (using Intellect House Style) will be 1 July 2025 and will be accepted on a rolling basis with feedback within 90 days. The Special Issue will be published in 2026. Please let us know if you are interested in submitting by emailing Catharine Weiss at cweiss1@lasell.edu. Questions regarding the journal should be sent to Joseph H. Hancock, II at jhh33@drexel.edu.
‘Queer Celebrities: Fashion, Style and Influence in Popular Culture’
Fashion, Style & Popular Culture invites scholars, critics and artists to submit papers for a Special Issue exploring the intersection of queerness, celebrity culture, fashion and style. How are queer celebrities influencing, shaping and transforming popular culture through their fashion and stylistic choices? We are interested in contributions that critically engage with the roles of queer celebrities in fashion as agents of change, as symbols of resistance, and as architects of a more inclusive and diverse cultural landscape.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Iconography and Symbolism: Symbols, motifs in queer celebrities’ fashion choices.
- Fashion and Activism: Queer celebrities using fashion for activism, advocacy, social change.
- Queer Aesthetics and Design: Queer aesthetics in celebrity fashion designers and stylists.
- Media Representation: Queer celebrity portrayals in film, tv, music videos, digital media.
- Queer Influencers: Tension between self-commodification and contributing to queer culture.
- Fan Culture and Imitation: Queer celebrity fashion in imitation, cosplay, fan communities.
- Queer Celebrity Fashion Brand Collaborations: Impact on brand and consumer behaviour.
- Body Politics and Gender Fluidity: How queer celebrities challenge conventional body. norms and gender binaries through fashion, including impact on societal norms.
- Queer Celebrities and the Fashion Industry: Impact on fashion industry’s sizing, fit, gender neutrality.
- Identity: Queer celebrity fashion and identity formation, self-expression.
- Intersectionality and Global Perspectives: Global influence of queer celebrities on fashion and diverse expressions of queerness in different cultural contexts.
- Queer or Queer baiting? Exploitation of the queer market through queer fashion and style.
Each topic invites contributors to delve into the multifaceted relationship between queer celebrities and the world of fashion. We encourage submissions that offer unique, including non-western, perspectives, interdisciplinary approaches and innovative methodologies.
The deadline for manuscripts of 5000–7000 words (using Intellect House Style) is 1 July 2025.
Please visit the journal website for Notes for Contributors: https://www.intellectbooks.com/fashion-style-popular-culture#call-for-papers
Please submit full manuscripts for double blind peer-review to Dirk Reynders at dirk_reynders@hotmail.com. Questions regarding journal standards and submissions should be sent to Hilde Van den Buck at hdv26@drexel.edu. General questions regarding the journal can be sent to Joseph H. Hancock, II at joseph.hancockii@gmail.com.