State of Exception

Academics argue that fashion photographs establish norms. On the contrary, looking at vintage fashion advertisements we can see that fashion simply creates an ongoing state of exception. These images did not in time become norms. So, in the same manner that the political hegemony operates by the state of exception, so does fashion. But with fashion we have nothing to fear. The fashion photograph is simply a theater of aesthetic suspense. This is how fashion photography functions as contemporary art - in the realm of appreciation. What was previously cultivated as an exclusive task is now an ongoing public event. See more on fashion and art appreciation here.