I am pleased to introduce a new series of articles from Consumption Markets & Culture – “Marketplace Icons.” The first, “Denim” by Daniel Miller is available here: http://www.tandfonline.com/
“Denim is an ideal object for thinking about marketplace icons more generally because it transcends the very notion. The term “marketplace icon” suggests there is something specific, a brand, an object, which captures you precisely because of its specificity. Now, denim is not that at all. Denim is ubiquitous, it is ordinary, and actually many of the people I studied who wear denim often do not even know what brand it is.”
