Torn: Fashion and Postmodernism

by Eugene Rabkin

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction

197 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 25, 2026

Reviews

[sarah joy]

an articulate account as to why fashion is no longer exciting, the most intriguing reason being the loss of the authority of the critic—brands themselves have become producers and patrons of culture dictating what is good; without defined standards and desires to meaningfully connect to history, there is nothing for fashion to do—to react against—but merely remix endlessly in celebrity-fueled fine-art-adjacent collaborations in the never-ending pursuit of newness

« In fashion’s postmodern period, the primary job of fashion companies’ marketing and PR departments is not just continuous creation of new signs but also destruction of the established relationships between the signifier and the signified, and their rebuilding in the service of commerce. »

[Merve Kisacik]

As a fan of Rabkin and StyleZeitgeist, I knew I would absolutely love this book the moment I pre-ordered it, and I’m glad to report that I was not wrong. This is a concise but all-encompassing account of everything that is wrong with the “fashion industry" today and how we got here. I usually disagree with the authors on some points, even when I thoroughly enjoy their book, but I have no notes for this one. The sarcastic tone, especially of the last chapter, is a great conclusion to this brilliant book. And the manifesto somehow makes complete sense to a pessimist like me, so who knows, maybe there is hope for us after all!

[Timon Sautter]

Sehr interessant, mit sehr fashion-nerdigen Ausflügen und Abwandlungen von klassischem Marxismus und Frankfurter Schule.

[Reader]

Everything true, nothing new.