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Haute couture and the discourse of stardom in globalized times

Sonam Kapoor as Hindi cinema's representative fashion icon

Bibliographic Data

ID12713870
AuthorsAysha Iqbal Viswamohan (0000-0003-1354-9185, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume12
Issue2
Pages73-88
Publication date2014-05-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSouth Asian Popular Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1474-6689 • E-ISSN: 1474-6697
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14746689.2014.937054
OpenAlexW2017834997
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited9

The article is a study of correlation between stardom and high fashion (haute couture) in postliberalized India. Apart from its well-documented implications on the Indian economy, the phenomenon of liberalization also impacted the way Hindi film stars became vehicles for international brands, on and off screen. My aim is to understand the iconography of actor Sonam Kapoor who is the face of a global brand of cosmetics, and also a fashion icon of Hindi cinema, a perfect embodiment of the aspirations of the upwardly mobile, urban youth. The article conflates theories of fashion, star iconography and celebrity culture. It predominantly tests Richard Dyer's contention, ‘Star images are always extensive, multimedia, intertextual’ (Heavenly Bodies, 2011, 3); Stella Bruzzi's conclusion that ‘where the fashionable, too beautiful woman is concerned the issues of identity and identification become problematized, as the focus has shifted away from the woman herself to the art and spectacle of her clothes’ (Undressing Cinema, 1997, 18); and Pamela Church Gibson's assertion in her reading of celebrity and stardom as, ‘cinema itself is changing swiftly’ (Fashion and Celebrity Culture, 2012, 67). Although fashion can be investigated from several angles (gender, consumerism, race/ethnicity, ideology, power relations), my concern is to understand high fashion as an identity-forming project, and to explain how in the postliberalized scenario stars fashion their celebrity through international couture

Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Hindi · Hollywood · Icon · Iconography · Identity (music · Ideology · Literature · Movie theater · Parade · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Spectacle · Visual arts · Cinema and Media Studies · Law · Media, Gender, and Advertising · South Asian Cinema and Culture

  • Decoding Gender

    Open Access•Hitender Sehrawat, Paaige K Turner et al.•Journal of Creative Communications•2025

  • Crafting celebrity

    Open Access•Ashonshok Kachui•DIY Alternative Cultures & Society•2026

  • From craft to couture

    TARA MAYER•South Asian Popular Culture•2018

  • Ash‐coloured whiteness

    G Osuri•South Asian Popular Culture•2008

  • Tailoring Expectations

    Clare M Wilkinson‐weber•South Asian Popular Culture•2005

  • A History of Charisma

    Open Access•John Potts•History of Charisma•2009

Unique citing works3
Citations per year0.38
Citation span2018 - 2026 (9)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 3

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