Sources for fashion research
When studying Fashion & Textiles, you will need to find non-academic sources of fashion research. These include:
- Reports
- News
- Fashion magazines
- Runway shows
- Documentaries & films
These are not academic sources, but they are useful for understanding modern issues & trends in fashion design.
Reports & news
Use the WGSN database to find reports on:
- trend forecasting,
- fashion & retail analyses,
- items, materials & designs (e.g. reports examining shoes, accessories, prints, fabrics, etc.)
- reports on current fashion issues (e.g. sustainability).
WGSN also has fashion news from around the world.
- Innovation in Textiles Industry news on new technologies in textiles
- The Business of Fashion Company and industry news in fashion. Free student subscriptions available.
- Harper's Bazaar A popular, well-known womens' fashion magazine.
- Instyle The UTS Library collection of InStyle fashion magazines, including the InStyle special & weddings.
- Fashiontrend Australia Australian fashion magazine that covers fashion trends.
- Vogue Magazine Browse the Library's collection of the Vogue Magazine, including local & international publications.
Find more fashion magazines
Magazines are classified as 'journals' in the Library Catalogue. To find fashion magazines, go to the UTS Library Journal Search, and type in the name of the magazine or your keywords (e.g. Fashion).
Runway shows & documentaries
Find runway shows, fashion films & documentaries via the Library databases & online.
Keep up to date on the latest runway shows & catwalk analyses on:
Search or browse the Catwalk gallery. There are collection reviews, analyses and images for catwalk items and collections for multiple categories & each season.
To find catwalk information go to menu item: Research & Create > Catwalks
For more fashion & runway shows, try these sites:
- FirstViewA website of fashion shows. Browse by date, country or designer.
- FashionTVThis site has a collection of fashion shows & videos, including haute couture runway shows.
- KanopyBrowse or search Kanopy to find films covering the fashion industry, fashion designers, runway shows, textiles and more.
- Academic Video OnlineIncludes documentaries, fashion news, runways and interviews with fashion industry commentators.
Images
Find Images in...
Databases & Museum Websites
You can also find high-quality images from some databases & museum websites. This is especially helpful if you're interested in historic or cultural fashion & textiles. Some places to look are:
- Berg Fashion Library A collection of 3 different databases containing books, journal articles & photographs focusing on fashion.
- Google Arts & Culture Contains images, artwork and exhibits from around the world.
- Europeana Museum, gallery, library and archive collections from around Europe.
- Cooper Hewitt Collections from the Smithsonian Design Museum in Manhattan, New York City
- V&A A museum of art, design and performance with heaps of online images & exhibits.
- Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS) Collections from the Powerhouse Museum and other applied arts museums in Australia
Idea!
Lots of fashion books, reports & magazines have great high-quality images which you can use. They are of high-quality and easy to reference!
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