Identity Semiosis: Portraits of Fashion in School Space

Abstract

Clothing, accessories and behavior are part of the fashion universe and are manifested as a significant aspect of the language of personal communication, reflecting in the social-historical path of each subject. Present in all spaces, fashion is characterized as an inseparable element of the school space, an environment composed of subjects who are building their identity(s). In view of this, the present research had as a general objective to understand how fashion contributes to the construction of identities in the school space. To achieve the proposed objective, a qualitative, descriptive and documentary research was carried out. In the data collection, six photographs of students in school spaces were selected, in which the fashion signs present in these records were analyzed, based on Semiotics by Charles Sanders Peirce. From the results, it was noticed that, most of the students, spontaneously become uniformed, through the use of t-shirts, jeans, leggings, sweatshirt and sneakers. An individualization was also noticeable through the washing of jeans, accessories and prints. In addition, it was understood that groups are formed through the signs they carry, and that these can expose the subject's tastes. That is, fashion presents itself as fundamental for these phenomena to occur and be presented to other individuals. These phenomena, evidenced through the desire for imitation and differentiation, or through relationships of status and power. It is concluded that it is through the display of clothes and accessories carried that young people expose their identity(s), tastes and ideas.