Abstract
This article attempts to create a framework for understanding modern fashion phenomena on the basis of Durkheim's sociology of religion. It focuses on Durkheim's conception of the relation between the cult and the sacred object, on his notion of ‘exteri-orisation’, and on his theory of the social symbol in an attempt to describe the peculiar attraction of the fashion object and its social constitution. However, Durkheim's notions of cult and ritual must undergo profound changes if they are to be used in an analysis of fashion. The article tries to expand the Durkheimian cult, radically enlarging it without totally dispersing it; depicting it as held together exclusively by the sheer ‘force’ of the sacred object. Firstly, the article introduces the themes and problems surrounding Durkheim's conception of the sacred. Next, it briefly sketches an outline of fashion phenomena in Durkheimian categories—an outline which at the same time indicates the need for transformations of the Durkheimian model on decisive points. Thus, thirdly, it returns to Durkheim and undertakes to develop his concepts in a direction suitable for a sociological theory of fashion. Finally, it discusses the theoretical implications of the enlargement of the cult into individual behaviour.
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