Society shaping the world of fashion

I tend to believe that fashion is an underestimated social force. Society looks over the idea of fashion and dismisses it as something that only pertains to those who care about it, i.e. people who have nothing better to do with their lives. They only enjoy adorning themselves with items that no one else can afford. Children in third world countries, would be considered rich if they have more than 3 items of clothing and an entire meal to last them a day.
It is a web of consumer tastes, personality identity, and habits. Various fashion critics in the nineteenth century, analyzed the origins of expensive tastes and fashion hierarchies. They concluded that upper classes distinguished themselves in terms of clothing to separate themselves from the classes below them. Their styles and practices were emulated by the middle and lower classes, which left the upper classes to reinvent themselves. So is this why the whole notion of brand names and expensive tastes came about? if you notice there is a variable price hierarchy that exists. With brand named items priced at a minimum of $400 a pop (exaggeration of course), and generic brands sold at Kohls and Wal-mart creates a huge a price gap.
I am going to investigate the stigma of brand names later on. But this was just a small overview about the history of fashion and its origins.