モード産業における小規模生産の意義 : 19世紀後半〜20世紀初頭におけるサンテティエンヌ絹リボン工業とモード

抄録

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of small-scale production in the fashion industry with special reference to the organization of production. The development of the Saint-Etienne ribbon industry from the second half of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century will serve as an example. Saint-Etienne specialized in high-grade articles. For the production of ribbons it relied on small-scale organizations called chefs-d'atelier, which consisted mainly of merchants and master ribbon weavers with ateliers equipped with a few looms. These organizations were able to produce a continuous stream of new articles in response to changes in fashion. As the demand for low-grade articles grew with the 'democratization of fashion', people involved in the Saint-Etienne ribbon industry strove to improve productivity in their various capacities. A vital piece of evidence provided by these people is the fact that all their plans involved the retention of the chefs-d'atelier. This was because they all agreed to emphasize the production of high-grade articles with a high fashion sense rather than low-grade ones. This explains why chefs-d'atelier were able to maintain their central position in the production structure.