100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Fast Overnight NZ-wide Delivery 🚀

Power Mode

Fashion & Textile History Gallery
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Power Mode explores the complex relationship between fashion and power from the 18th century to today. The book examines how clothing conveys political, economic, military, sexual, and rebellious power through diverse styles such as gray flannel suits, protest garments, and fetish wear. Organised into thematic chapters on military, suits, status, rebellion, and sex, Emma McClendon offers a deep analysis of how specific attire establishes and challenges power dynamics across genders. Accompanying essays by noted fashion scholars and journalists provide close readings of iconic garments and explore intersections of race, fashion, and power.
Read More
Format: Hardback
$8000
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This insightful volume suits readers interested in fashion history, cultural studies, and social power structures. It's ideal for students, academics, and anyone curious about how wardrobe reflects and influences identity and authority within society.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The power of mode and the role of fashion from the 18th century to the present.

Power is part identity, part behaviour, and part physicality. The way we outfit ourselves can play an outsized role in conveying power to others—whether it be the pink "pussy hats" at the 2017 Women's March or the Cleveland Cavaliers' coordinated Thom Browne suits during the 2018 NBA playoffs.

However, power is not easily defined. It is political position and economic status, but it is also military strength, sexual authority, rebellion, and protest. Each form of power finds sartorial expression in a variety of ways, from grey flannel suits to latex fetish wear, and from gilded brocades to distressed jeans.

Power Mode will explore the role fashion plays in establishing, reinforcing, and challenging power dynamics within society. Published as a companion to The Museum at FIT exhibition of the same title, which will be on view from December 2019 to May 2020, the book offers a more in-depth discussion of the themes and objects explored in the exhibition.

It will be organised thematically into five chapters—military, suits, status, rebellion, and sex—written by exhibition curator Emma McClendon. Each chapter includes both men's and women's clothing from the 18th century to the present and investigates how certain designs and garments have come to be culturally associated with power, as well as how their meanings have evolved over time. The book also examines how fashion designers have interpreted these stylistic archetypes—both to convey and to subvert power.

In addition to the main chapters written by McClendon, Power Mode includes object-based essays from renowned fashion scholars Valerie Steele, Christopher Breward, Jennifer Craik, and Peter McNeil, as well as Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist Robin Givahn. Each short study provides a close reading of a single garment.

This collection of essays offers readers a variety of perspectives and analytical techniques that will help form a theoretical and practical framework for considering the power dynamics inherent in fashion objects. The book also includes an essay on the intersection of race, fashion, and power by Parsons professor Kimberly Jenkins.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9788857239873

Publisher: Skira

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 28 November 2019

Country: Italy

Imprint: Skira

Illustration: 65 Illustrations, color

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 240.0mm

Height: 300.0mm

Weight: 1000g

Pages: 168

About the Author

Emma McClendon is associate curator of Costume of MFIT.

More from Arts & Culture

View all
  • Dylan's Pick
    Bold Types
    A tribute to 32 truly independent bookshops throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, from north of Auckland down to Dunedin, and coast to coast. Jane Ussher's photographs show every bookstore in its unique nature - including behind the counter, smoko rooms, the mess which tells the hardworking story behind the joy of matching books with customers. Jemma Moreira's careful editing has crafted...
    Hardback
    $5999
    Elsewhere:
    $7000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Home Again
    Join rock-legend, former Shihad frontman and lead singer of The Adults, Jon Toogood in this unflinching and no-holds-barred memoir Home Again.This is more than a rock story. Toogood looks back on a 37-year career that helped define New Zealand rock music, and the personal cost that came with it. From a music-obsessed childhood in Wellington to the deafening roar of international stages, this...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Buy to Win
    Did I Ever Tell You This?
    In this unexpected memoir, written in a creative burst of just a few months in 2022, Sam Neill tells the story of how he became one of the world’s most celebrated actors, who has worked with everyone from Meryl Streep to Isabel Adjani, from Jeff Goldblum to Sean Connery, from Steven Spielberg to Jane Campion. By his own account, his...
    Paperback
    $3799
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Disney Moana: The Official Cookbook
    New Release
    Disney Moana: The Official Cookbook
    Embark on a culinary adventure with Moana of Motunui with Pacific recipes inspired by Moana and Moana 2! After a long day of sailing to see how far you’ll go or keeping the demigod Maui out of trouble with Te Fiti, catch a break with the delicious dishes in Moana: The Official Cookbook! Featuring more than 50 recipes spanning the...
    Hardback
    $4499
    Elsewhere:
    $5299
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • This Angry Pen of Mine
    This Angry Pen of Mine by Layne Staley invites you to dive into the untold creative world of Layne Staley, the legendary voice behind Alice in Chains. This extraordinary collection showcases his handwritten lyrics, deeply personal poetry, stunning original artwork, rare photos, fan tributes, and so much more. Step into the world of Layne Staley like never before. For the...
    Hardback
    $7299
    Elsewhere:
    $8999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • They Bloom Because of You
    Bestselling author and Instagram sensation Jessica Urlichs returns with a new collection of beautifully observed poems about the ever-evolving journey of motherhood - the hard, the magic and the fleeting. ‘A raw and honest read that makes you feel seen and understood in a way that will bring you to tears.’ - Hilary Swank ‘A book to keep close and...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3600
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Devotions
    New York Times Bestseller, chosen as Oprah's 'Books That Help Me Through' for Oprah's Book Club Chosen by Poetry Book Society as their special commendation 'No matter where one starts reading, Devotions offers much to love, from Oliver's exuberant dog poems to selections from the Pulitzer Prize-winning American Primitive, and Dream Work, one of her exceptional collections. Perhaps more important,...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Buy to Win
    The Odyssey
    The The Odyssey by Homer is a timeless epic that chronicles the adventures of the legendary Greek hero, Odysseus, as he endeavours to return home to Ithaca following the conclusion of the Trojan War. This monumental journey spans ten arduous years, during which Odysseus encounters a myriad of natural and supernatural challenges. From shipwrecks and ferocious battles to formidable monsters...
    By Homer
    Hardback
    $3600
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Buy to Win
    On Sale
    14% off
    Leaves of Grass
    A collectible new Penguin Classics series offers beautiful, slim, clothbound editions of ten favourite poets. In 1855, Walt Whitman published his first collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass. The volume received great praise from leading Transcendentalist poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. This encouragement led to what would become a lifelong project, as Whitman expanded and rewrote the volume until his death...
    Hardback
    $1900
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • I Still Believe in Miracles
    I Still Believe in Miracles is a collection of poetry exploring themes of masculinity, love, grief, and connection. This is the trade debut from Instagram phenomenon Lucas Jones, perfect for fans of yung pueblo, Hussain Manawer, and Whitney Hanson. A collection of powerful contemporary poetry, I Still Believe in Miracles delves deeply into themes of masculinity, love, grief, and connection....
    Hardback
    $3500
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Beautiful Chaos
    The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller Selected poems from bestselling author and Instagram poet, Jessica Urlichs. 'These words awaken the magic of life by celebrating the ordinary.' - Giovanna Fletcher Motherhood is messy and beautiful, and hard and humbling. We adore our children and sometimes we miss ourselves. Beautiful Chaos is a collection of raw, honest poems about motherhood, capturing everything...
    Paperback
    $2900
    Elsewhere:
    $3500
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Roadscapes
    For four decades, photographer Derek Smith has explored the way New Zealanders travel, work, and express themselves through the vehicles they drive. Roadscapes is his compelling photographic journey through the heartland of New Zealand, capturing our unique car cultures and the social landscapes they inhabit across Aotearoa.
    Hardback
    $3699
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.