What’s the purpose of fashion?

Is it to follow trends and keep buying and throwing away pieces? Or is to tell a story and possibly show our values?

What's the purpose of a car? Is it to burn fuel? Or is to get to a destination?

The purpose of a car is in fact to get to a destination (well for 99.99% of us at least) but we've been brainwashed so much that we can't answer with the same confident about fashion.