The German jurist Rudolf von Jhering is probably the first author who developed a full theory of cultural diffusion from the upper classes to the lower classes, applied to fashion, in his book Der Zweck im Recht (second volume, 1883[3]). The French sociologist Émile Durkheim summarizes Von Jhering's theory: "[According to this author, fashion] is the result of the need for superior classes to distinguish themselves on the outside from the inferior classes. Because on one side the latter constantly tend to imitate the former, fashion spreads in society by means of contagion. But, on the other side, because it lost all its value once it is adopted by everybody, it is condemned by its very nature to renew itself continuously".[4] It can be observed that it is not Georg Simmel who invented the trickle-down theory: in his 1904 article[5] this author does not even cite his compatriot, unlike Durkheim seven years earlier.