Fashion as an expression of our material culture, has an impact on more disciplines of design than perceived at first glance. Economic, political and environmental changes and the adherence to global trends, influence the world of design.

The thesis will take the Automobile Industry as a platform to demonstrate the impact fashion has and has had in the past on automotive design. The aim is to build on historical evidence, as well as current design practice to unravel the myth of mechanisms that create style.

The methodologies used will include interviews with past and contemporary car designers and advanced styling houses to investigate the history of style, colour, shape and texture within car design. The research will focus on exterior and interior vehicle design and compare them to current and past fashion-trends.

The different segments of consumption have a vast impact on design practice, in the Fashion and the Automobile Industry. These segments will be looked at from a current statistical point of view, drawing on sales data with an emphasis on styles, colours and cultural trends in a global environment. The following points will be addressed:

• Is our car a fashion statement?
• What role does gender and class play in our choice of vehicle as a means of self-expression??
• How has the design process changed and evolved into the current practice and is the pursuit of newness and speeded up fashion cycles infiltrating into the automobile industry?

The aim of the research is to identify the vehicle life and aesthetic parameters that will help to launch successful products for the future understanding the mechanisms that lead to it.