Cosplay

Cosplay, short for "costume play", has grown from its origins in a handful of Japanese manga and anime fan conventions to become a global dress phenomenon drawing on a wide range of popular culture sources. This is the first in-depth study of the practice of designing dazzling costumes and performing as characters, charting its development from being a signifier of amateur fan allegiance to becoming a profitable and innovative design business as well as a means of expressing identity, exploring gender performance and sexual fetish. Well illustrated and packed with cosplay designer and performer interviews, this text will be essential reading for students of fashion, cultural studies, sociology, anthropology, gender, performance and media studies.