Cultural and Historical Studies
We understand fashion both as a cultural practice central to matters of identity and representation and as a global industry with a complex network of creators and consumers.
Researchers at the CHS department take fashion as a dynamic verb. We explore how human beings fashion themselves and investigate how dress, design and textiles shape our shared social and cultural life.
Challenging conventionally narrow definitions of “fashion”, our research is interdisciplinary in approach, drawing from art, film, sociology, anthropology philosophy, economics and politics. We understand fashion as a key marker of social and cultural change and as a means of understanding the relationship between individuals and communities.
We aim to shape fashion education with critical perspectives and inform the fashion industry with discipline leading research. We seek to forge interdisciplinary, intersectional and inclusive approaches to fashion studies. We welcome research students and collaborators.
Our interests include:
- fashion in the contexts of ethnicity, race, religion, nationality, gender, sexuality and social class
- the bodily, material and sensory experiences of being dressed
- critical perspectives on the global economy of fashion production
- power and labour in the fashion industry
- politics and fashion
- ethnographic histories of dress
- cultural analysis of dress in literature, film, art, and media
- influence and appropriation
- critical analyses of fashion advertising, photography, shows and media.
You can find out more about our researchers and how to get involved with our work below.
Our researchers
Professor of Fashion Cultures and Histories
Shahidha Bari
Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies
Charlie Athill
Reader in Histories and Cultures of Fashion
Djurdja Bartlett
Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies and Co-Convener of the Masculinities Research Hub.
Jay Bowstead
Senior Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies
Neil Kirkham
Senior Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies
Nikola Mijovic
Head of Cultural and Historical Studies
Caroline Stevenson
Lecturer in Fashion Cultures and Histories
Sara Kwan
Senior Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies
Serkan Delice
Senior Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies
Anne Reimers
Liza Betts, Researcher and Lecturer of Fashion Cultures and Histories
Maria Costantino, Lecturer in Fashion Culture and Histories
Basia Sliwinska,Senior Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies
Tony Sullivan, Senior Lecturer in Fashion Cultures and Histories
What's on
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Folk Narrative and the Visual Arts: Fashion, Design, Materials and Media
This conference explores the distinctive aesthetic storytelling allows and considers its social, political and cultural dimensions.
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