Once the failure of classical fashion Semiotics (1960-1980) was certified, as it conceived the fashion phenomenon as a system devoid of meaning (Barthes), incapable of communicating (Lotman) and unbearable (Volli), the great designers and marketing strategists began a new period, that of the Pragmatics of Fashion (1980-2000), committed to resemiotizing the system by resorting to prestigious referents for their collections (the history of art and culture) and to the brand, defined as a hypericonema loaded with powerful literal, imaginary and psycho-emotional meanings (Paz Gago). This stage of fashion semiotics is described by Floch and Calefato, scholars of fashion brands as written text, since it is the proper name of the great fashion designers that has become a brand. Both agree on the need to move beyond the more linguistic stage of the discipline to develop a visual semiotics or a plastic semiotics that serves to analyze fashion as an essentially visual phenomenon. With the new millennium, in line with the new digital technologies that colonize and are colonized by fashion, the Neosemiotics of fashion (2000-2020) emerges, mediated by the stories and reels uploaded to social networks such as Instagram or TikTok, as Bianca Terraciano or Victoria Nannini will analyze. Fashion semiotics faces a new challenge today due to the emergence of Artificial Intelligence, which has already colonized all processes in the fashion system: design creation, pattern making, manufacturing, advertising and marketing campaigns, fashion shows, distribution, and marketing can all be implemented through generative Artificial Intelligence applications. These new technological phenomena respond to the semiotic mode I have called Machination, as opposed to the Representation and Simulation characteristic of classic analog and digital technologies.

Citations

• Semiotics of the Manila Shawl (mantón de Manila): From Historical Transformations to its Present Identity Function
  Ana Velasco Molpeceres, Carmen Baniandrés, María Prieto Muñiz
  EPISTÉMÈ.2025; 35: 2.     CrossRef

This study analyzed the Harry Potter-Balenciaga meme to explore the impact of new memes generated by Generative Al technology on online meme culture. The concept of memes, introduced by Richard Dawkins in ''The Selfish Gene” as units of cultural information, has evolved into contemporary internet memes, becoming a significant element of online culture. The Harry Potter-Balenciaga video, created using Al technology in 2023, garnered significant attention as an innovative online meme, demonstrating an epistemological expansion in the realm of online memes. It transcended the limitations of traditional meme creation by realizing abstract ideas, leading to the emergence of a new meme genre, the 'Idea Meme.' This study captured this phenomenon by considering the Harry Potter-Balenciaga meme as a new genre. It discussed the meme as an Idea-Realizing Meme, based on Shifman's (2016) traditional meme classification, through semiotic analysis of the images and text. By analyzing the three dimensions(content, form, and stance) of the Harry Potter- Balenciaga meme from a semiotic perspective, the study explained how AI-generated memes overcome the limitations of traditional memes and expand communicative and epistemological possibilities. This research aimed to shed light on the impact of the fusion of Al technology and online digital culture on cultural life and contribute to digital culture studies and online communication research.

Citations

• De la pasarela al meme
  Susana Golf Sanchez, Ana Belén Bastidas Manzano, María Alcolea Parra
  SOCIAL REVIEW. International Social Sciences Review / Revista Internacional de Ciencias Sociales.2025; 13(2): 133.     CrossRef