Fashion Theology - by Robert Covolo (Hardcover)

About the Book

For those traversing this spectacle of unexpected crossroads and hotly contested terrain, the promise of fashion theology awaits with its myriad unexplored vistas.

Book Synopsis

What is fashion? Where does it come from? Why has it come to permeate modern life?

In the last half century, questions like these have drawn serious academic reflection, resulting in a new field of research--fashion studies--and generating a rich multidisciplinary discussion. Yet theology's voice has been conspicuously absent in this conversation. The time has finally come for theology to break her silence and join this decades-long conversation.

Fashion Theology is the first of its kind: a serious and long-overdue account of the dynamic relationship between theology and fashion. Chronicling the epic journey from ancient Christian sources to current developments in fashion studies, cultural theologian Robert Covolo navigates the rich history of Christian thought as well as recent political, social, aesthetic, literary, and performance theory. Far from mere disparity or quick resolution, Covolo demonstrates that fashion and theology inhabit a mutual terrain that has, until recently, scarcely been imagined.

Covolo retraces the way theologians have taken up fashion across history, unveiling how Christian thinkers have been fascinated with fashion well before the academy's current focus, and bringing these insights into the conversation with fashion itself: the logic by which fashion operates, how fashion shapes our world, and the way fashion imperceptibly molds our personal lives. Within fashion's realms reside some of life's greatest challenges: the foundations of political power, the basis for social order, the nature of aesthetics, how we inhabit time, and the means by which we tell stories about our lives--challenges, it turns out, that theologians also explore.

Fashion favors the bold; theology demands humility. Holding the two together, Fashion Theology trailblazes an interdisciplinary path informed by a thoughtful engagement with the Christian witness. For those traversing this spectacle of unexpected crossroads and hotly contested terrain, the promise of fashion theology awaits with its myriad unexplored vistas.

Review Quotes

... Fashion Theology's call for theology to attend to fashion is timely and needed. Covolo's enthusiasm for the wealth of potential theological, philosophical, and aesthetic encounters with fashion is refreshing. Ambitious in its breadth and brevity, Fashion Theology heralds the way forexpanded theological and aesthetic reflection on our history and life in clothes.

--Katherine Ellis "Art and Christianity"

Covolo's book is certainly pioneering of a field that is unknown for the majority of theologians and even for the Fashion studies scholars.... This newly marked-out field is primed for development. Covolo's Fashion Theology presents conditions and criteria for weaving a new dress for theology.

--Alberto Ambrosio "Studies in Christian Ethics"

Understanding the immense scope and complexity of the two domains, the author acknowledges that his work does not cover all aspects of fashion and theology, nor does it seek to offer any hasty resolutions. However, he has given us enough information to satiate our curiosity, to present reflective issues, and to open the discussion for further exploration. The book is written in such a compelling way that both academics and the broader public audience would enjoy. If you're interested in this subject or if your curiosity has peaked even a little, this is a book I highly recommend.

--Noemi Ortiz "Englewood Review of Books"

...Fashion Theology is a stimulating and delightful book, both learned and lucid. It deftly shows not only that fashion reveals a great deal about our society but that our society cannot be understood apart from fashion. Covolo's compelling study sets the agenda for those who wish to pursue fashion theology.

--Jonathan Lett "International Journal of Public Theology"

Fashion Theology is an ambitious attempt to set the conversation about fashion and theology on a firm footing moving forward. ... Fashion Theology is a foundational work toward a constructive conversation between these two disciplines.

--Joseph Sherrard "Calvin Theological Journal"

There is much to praise in Fashion Theology. Covolo is masterful in bringing together two seemingly disparate disciplines.

--Cameron Clausing "Journal of Reformed Theology"

About the Author

Robert Covolo (PhD VU Amsterdam) is a cultural theologian residing in Los Angeles. He has served as a scholar at the Visual Faith Institute of Art and Architecture and as faculty at the Torrey Honors Institute, and currently directs the Center for Pastoral Residents, Christ Church Sierra Madre.