Japanese Women and Italian Luxury Fashion: Consumption, Media and Identity (1985-1999)

This research aims to explore the possible relations built between Japanese women and fashion, focusing on the reasons behind the mass consumption of luxury fashion, in particular Italian one, between 1985 and 1999. In the first part the process of the democratization of luxury will be explored to understand the change of the luxury sector in Japan in relation as well to the market entry strategy of European brands in the Japanese market. An analysis of social changes and customer behaviors will follow, focusing on the reasons behind the purchase of luxury items conducted by Japanese consumers as a whole and subsequently by women. The second part analyzes women's fashion and lifestyle magazines, focusing on media representations of Italian fashion consumers and the presence of brands and advertised products. By examining JJ magazine covers from 1985 to 1999 and articles on Italian fashion topics from various magazines targeting different demographics, this research aims to identify and analyze the types of Italian fashion consumers, the products that were mostly consumed and in the broader sense the interplay between consumers, fashion, and magazines. Magazines showcased that most of the articles related to Italian fashion presented both core brands but as well their sub-brands, and that the advertised products were mostly part of diffusion lines or bags, specifically magazines targeting readers in theirs 20s. In addition, the analysis of three different magazines targeting different readers, resulted in the emerging of just one category, wealthy married women, having a strong connection with the Italian luxury fashion and lifestyle which became a model to aspire to or to identify with.