Canadian Fashion Economies : A Select History of Fashion Culture, Commerce, and Colonization

A vital re-examination of Canadian cultural and commercial history told through key fashion objects from First Nations, colonial settlers, and contemporary Canadian culture.

Traditional narratives of fashion tend to ignore sophisticated pre-colonial networks, First Nation innovations and techniques, and their contributions to colonial dress. From exquisite Chilkat weavings to the iconic Hudson’s Bay Company blanket coat, by way of ribbon skirts, quilts, and a beaver-fur top hat, this rich study uses Canadian fashion objects as a research tool to illuminate neglected areas in North American fashion history.

Using vivid object-based research, O’Connell maps out pre-colonial economic networks spanning the entire continent, global colonial textile and fur trades, and the material culture of French and English migrant populations in the ‘New World’, and equips readers with a framework for more nuanced and inclusive histories of Canadian culture and commerce.

Unexpected, overlooked stories emerge as central to Canada’s fashion history, from hybrid fashion cultures to re-used textiles in settler communities, and O’Connell highlights contemporary Canadian artists and designers who point to new possibilities to reclaim and preserve this cultural heritage.