FASHION POLICE 

Retail Ransacked: Theft on the Rise speakers:

• Matthew Bauer, Madison Avenue Business Improvement District

• Christopher Hornig, Saks Off Fifth

• Estelle Strykers-Santiago, New York County District Attorney’s Office

• Ashley Valdes, Warby Parker

• Moderator: Professor Susan Scafidi, Fashion Law Institute at Fordham

Decency Exposed: The New Culture Wars speakers: 

• Marilee Holmes, Save the Children

• Professor Kimberly Jenkins, The Fashion and Race Database and Artis Solomon Consulting

• Professor Susan Scafidi, Fashion Law Institute at Fordham

• Moderator: Jeff Trexler, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

We're not the fashion police -- though we're asked that question quite often! -- but we are keeping a close watch on current developments involving fashion and policing.  Join us on the eve of New York Fashion Week for FASHION POLICE, a double-header symposium in partnership with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.  The first panel, "Retail Ransacked: Theft on the Rise," will address this growing trend, its causes and effects, and strategies and public/private initiatives to combat it.  In case you missed our popular event at San Diego Comic Con, we'll reprise it with our second panel, "Decency Exposed: The New Culture Wars," an exploration of obscenity, decency, and current regulation of what we do or don't wear.  We look forward to welcoming you back to campus for the first time since the start of the pandemic!  Dress code: Clothed, please. 

DATE:  Thursday, September 8, 2022 
TIME:  9:00-11:45 am (breakfast 8:30am)
PLACE: Costantino Room, 2nd Floor,  Fordham Law School, 150 W. 62nd Street
NYS CLE: 3 hours professional practice, transitional and non-transitional 

Reservations recommended to guarantee admission. 

Kim appears on Riveted: The History of Jeans, an upcoming PBS story that reveals the fascinating and surprising story of this iconic American garment. At any given moment, half the people on the planet are wearing them. They have become a staple of clothing the world over, worn by everyone from presidents and supermodels to farmers and artists. More than just an item of apparel, America’s tangled past is woven into the indigo blue fabric. From its roots in slavery to its connection to the Wild West, youth culture, the civil rights movement, rock and roll, hippies, high fashion and hip-hop, jeans are the canvas on which the history of American ideology and politics is writ large.

Stream it here.

RSVP here.

From Inauguration Day to her official portrait by Amy Sherald (on view as part of our special exhibition The Obama Portraits Tour), First Lady Michelle Obama powerfully expressed the values and vision of the Obama White House through her sartorial choices. Explore the former First Lady’s culture-shifting style with image strategist Meredith Koop—who has been Michelle Obama’s stylist since 2010, in the White House and for subsequent appearances—and fashion historian Kimberly M. Jenkins, Assistant Professor of Fashion Studies, Ryerson University, and principal researcher for The Fashion and Race Database. The two discuss some of Michelle Obama’s key looks, starting with her official portrait, and explore the intersection between fashion and politics.

Tickets are $30 and include after-hours admission to The Obama Portraits Tour. Member tickets are $20. Not a Member? Join today!

This program will include ASL interpretation. For access needs, please email us at access@brooklynmuseum.org.

Fashion, Culture, Futures: African American Ingenuity, Activism, and Storytelling is a two-part symposium co-organized by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Presented virtually Thursday, June 17, and Thursday, Oct. 21, both programs will bring together academics, designers, critics, models, artists, activists and others to share new perspectives on the relationship between fashion and the African American experience.

Join Cooper Hewitt on June 17, 2021 for part one of the symposium, which will tackle the complex network of artists, innovators and image makers that influence the field of fashion. Inspired by Cooper Hewitt’s current Willi Smith: Street Couture exhibition and Willi Smith’s efforts to use fashion to express broader ideas about representation, inclusion and diversity, the program will illuminate how African American creatives are leading innovation and change within the contemporary fashion system.

Register Here

As a part of UCI’s Illuminations programs — which seek to link programming in arts and culture to the undergraduate academic and co-curricular experience. In Progress aims to collaboratively encourage ways of seeing, making, doing, and preserving as both academic and professional routes of cultural critique.

Register here.

Register for Gather Festival here.

Register for this event

Please join us to celebrate the creative scholarship of the MA Costume Studies graduating students! The event will feature student research presentations and will culminate in a guest lecture from Kim Jenkins, Assistant Professor of Fashion Studies at Ryerson University and founder of the Fashion and Race Database. 

Student Presentations:

Guaranteed to Wrinkle: Linen as Luxury in 1980s Fashion
Emily Elizabeth Lance

The White Suit: A Symbol of Otherness in Brazilian Culture, 1850 to the Present
Victoria Sperotto

Suited for Infamy: The Legacy of Lolita Lebron
Leia Pellot 

Keynote presentation:

Leaving Your Mark in Fashion Studies
Kim Jenkins

Kim is Assistant Professor of Fashion Studies in the School of Fashion at Ryerson University, lecturing previously at Parsons School of Design and Pratt Institute. Kim designed an elective course and exhibition entitled, Fashion and Race, sharing her insight at SXSW and Google HQ. Her expertise on fashion, race and cultural awareness has led to academic advising work for Gucci, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, the Centraal Museum and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is the founder and director of The Fashion and Race Database, a web platform that examines the intersection of fashion and racism, with supportive brand partnerships that include Tommy Hilfiger and Holt Renfrew. Kim holds an MA in Fashion Studies from Parsons School of Design. 

Photo credits:
Wilson Batista. January 1951. Photograph. Correio da Manhā Collection at the Brazilian National Archives.
European Confederation of Flax and Hemp, “Linen: The Designer Fiber,” Vogue, Volume 179, Issue 6 (June 1, 1989). The Vogue Archive.
Beaumont, Vagabond. Lolita Lebron. June 8, 2009. Photograph. 

Young artists and designers face a sometimes cruel or indifferent world. How do we prepare art and design students for careers in the capitalist marketplace?

Join us on April 8 and 9 for Art/Works: Teaching Labor and Capitalism in Art and Design, an online symposium sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and hosted by the Fashion Institute of Technology.

We will discuss such questions as art and design in an age of catastrophe, internships, nationalism and cultural appropriation, teaching about labor unions and collectives, and how to learn from an art/design racial crisis. Panelists include artists, designers, and faculty from FIT, Parsons, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Fordham, CUNY, Princeton, Harvard, Boston University, Penn State, and Ryerson University. Please check out the link to our symposium schedule and RSVP by April 5.

RSVP for April 8 and 9.

The Art/Works schedule is available here:

https://businesshistory.fitnyc.edu/art-works-symposium-2021/

Questions about the symposium can be directed to Kyunghee Pyun or Dan Levinson Wilk.

kyunghee_pyun@fitnyc.edu

daniel_levinsonwilk@fitnyc.edu

To honour International Women’s Day, Holt Renfrew spoke to Kim, along with four other incredible women, about the spirit of the day, the pandemic, and how we can all continue to empower women.

Visit Holt Renfrew’s website to learn more.

Moving beyond the Black Box, A New Conversation about Race

This event will feature over 30 professionals from across the fashion and retail industry engaged in a new conversation about race and fashion. This event will provide best practices by brands that are “getting it right", education for brands “figuring it out”, and opportunities for brands ready to “make a difference”. This conference is curated based on our 13 years of experience in promoting people of color in fashion. Our goal is to educate the industry on potential solutions, provide solutions to brands still searching for answers, and share the best practices over the past six months.

Register here.

Register Here

The 1920s brought us a pandemic, social unrest and race riots, developments in technology, a fashion revolution and a resurgence of feminism. Now, a century later, can we anticipate another roaring ‘20s? Join us virtually as The Curiosity Desk’s Edgar B Herwick III interviews two experts who will help answer this question.

First up, professor Nicholas Christakis will discuss social behavior then and how he anticipates people will behave now post-pandemic. Next, hear from professor Kim Jenkins about fashion, race and culture in the 1920s and where we’re heading in the 2020s.

Edgar will select queries from the audience and even ask you a few of his own!

Featuring:

Kim Jenkins
Assistant Professor of Fashion Studies at Ryerson University
Kim became best known for designing a course and exhibition called Fashion and Race and has shared her insights globally in industry forums and institutions. Her expertise in fashion history and infusing ‘race’ into fashion theory education has led to consulting work for Gucci, the Centraal Museum, and other corporate brands and organizations. Kim is the founder of the Fashion and Race Database, an online platform that expands the narrative of fashion history and challenges misrepresentation within the fashion system.

Nicholas A. Christakis
Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science, Yale University
Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH, is a social scientist and physician at Yale University who conducts research in the fields of network science, biosocial science and behavior genetics. He directs the Human Nature Lab and is the Co-Director of the Yale Institute for Network Science. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2006, the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2010 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017. His recently wrote Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live.

Hosted by Edgar B. Herwick III of GBH’s Curiosity Desk
Edgar runs GBH’s Curiosity Desk, where he aims to dig a little deeper (and sometimes askew) into topics in the news and looks for answers to questions posed by the world around us.

This virtual event will begin at 7pm Eastern Standard Time.

How it works:
We will email you the link to this event once you have registered.

GBH will be using Zoom Webinar for this event. Zoom is free to the public but will require a computer download. You can download Zoom here. If you already have Zoom, you will not need to download the platform again.

This year, RUBIX features 38 scholarly research and creative (SRC) projects from faculty members across our creative and dynamic faculty. Discover FCAD's creative edge through multimedia experiences in the fields of media, design and creative industries.

Join us on Monday, November 23rd from 5pm-6pm for our launch event and celebration featuring engaging demos and discussion on the future of SRC.

Register here.

Diversity and Inclusion: How To Create Meaningful Change

A magazine editor-in-chief and diversity consultant talk about workplace discrimination, and what fashion and media companies need to do to meaningfully promote racial and ethnic diversity.

Kimberly Jenkins, assistant professor of fashion studies, Ryerson University

Lindsay Peoples Wagner, editor-in-chief, Teen Vogue and co-founder, Black in Fashion Council
Moderated by Isabel Berwick, Work & Careers Editor, Financial Times

View the full agenda for the FT Business of Luxury Summit.

Friday nights are made for fashion films! FSA brings you the fifth installment of their monthly series that showcases a fashion (or fashion-adjacent) film, a thematic menu and a post-film discussion.

This month’s selection is Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex, Fashion & Disco (2017), directed by James Crump.

Synopsis: A documentary about fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez, whose work in New York and Paris during the 1970s was highly influential.

Here’s how to join:

- (Optional): Prepare/procure the thematic menu items, curated by co-founding FSA members Ariele Elia and April Calahan.

- Rent/stream Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex, Fashion & Disco and view the film synchronously with FSA on Friday evening, October 30 at 7:00 PM EST

DISCUSSION:

Join Antonio scholar Alex Joseph and FSA co-founding members Ariele Elia and Kim Jenkins as they lead a virtual discussion immediately following the film at 8:30 PM EST.

Retail as a Portal: The Way Forward to Systemic Change

The Fashion and Race Database Conversation Series is launching with a three-part panel series entitled, ‘Retail as a Portal,’ that explores how retail can empower us to produce and consume with positive, social impact and ignite systemic change. This series is hosted by professor and Founder of The Fashion and Race Database (www.fashionandrace.org), Kimberly Jenkins, and she will be joined by figures in the fashion constellation who are leading through visionary thinking and doing.

Thank you to our title sponsor, Holt Renfrew’s H Project which carries a mandate of connecting consumers, causes and communities to inspire a new generation of purposeful luxury and drive positive change in the world. The mandate of the Fashion and Race Database aligned with Holt Renfrew’s commitment to honour diversity and inclusion and we're thrilled to have their support and leadership in bringing these conversations forward.

All events are free to register and open to the public. The conversations will be recorded.

Robin Givhan is Washington Post Senior Critic-at-Large writing about politics, race and the arts. Previously, she covered the fashion industry as a business, as a cultural institution and as pure pleasure. She is the 2006 Pulitzer Prize winner for criticism and author of The Battle of Versailles: The Night American Fashion Stumbled into the Spotlight and Made History. In addition to The Post, Givhan has worked at Newsweek, Daily Beast, Vogue magazine and the Detroit Free Press. During her most recent tenure at The Post, in addition to fashion, Givhan covered Michelle Obama during the first year of the administration.

Sherri McMullen is the Founder of her eponymous luxury concept retail stores, McMullen, located in Oakland and Palo Alto, California. With more than 20 years of fashion industry experience, Sherri is dedicated to advocating for industry change while committing resources and platforms for Black designers and creatives. Using her platform, she brings awareness to emerging designers, diversity on a corporate level, and industry innovation. She was awarded for her exemplary achievements in fashion entrepreneurship, business management and community service to organizations focused on women, children and the arts.

Retail as a Portal: Image-making as a Blueprint for Systemic Change

The Fashion and Race Database Conversation Series is launching with a three-part panel series entitled, ‘Retail as a Portal,’ that explores how retail can empower us to produce and consume with positive, social impact and ignite systemic change. This series is hosted by professor and Founder of The Fashion and Race Database (www.fashionandrace.org), Kimberly Jenkins, and she will be joined by figures in the fashion constellation who are leading through visionary thinking and doing. The first installment of this series, ‘Retail as a Portal for Change,’ will feature an acclaimed design duo and an ethnobotanist who are transforming retail in both concept and practice. 

Thank you to our title sponsor, Holt Renfrew’s H Project which carries a mandate of connecting consumers, causes and communities to inspire a new generation of purposeful luxury and drive positive change in the world. The mandate of the Fashion and Race Database aligned with Holt Renfrew’s commitment to honour diversity and inclusion and we're thrilled to have their support and leadership in bringing these conversations forward.

All events are free to register and open to the public. The conversations will be recorded.

Sir John is a dynamic force in the beauty and fashion industry, creating iconic looks with his signature use of color, luminance, and inclusive style. He developed his reputation as a Global Artis creating statement looks while working with industry moguls Pat McGrath and Charlotte Tilbury backstage at fashion shows worldwide. Sir John’s magnetic presence and unique creative approach has allowed him to work with some of the world’s most iconic women including Beyoncé, whose tone-setting signature looks Sir John has been trusted with since 2010. Over the course of his career, Sir John has helped shape the culture of the beauty industry, with his commitment to inclusivity and understanding the ever-changing needs of women. His leadership and passion for authenticity have driven him to champion an inside-out approach to beauty that helped make him the Global Ambassador and Consultant with L’Oréal Paris, as well as partnerships with numerous other brands including Glossier, MAC, Yves Saint Laurent, and Estée Lauder.

Yomi Abiola is the founder of The Fem League, a multimedia platform and incubator that provides a powerful perspective on women as creatives, leaders and entrepreneurs globally. Yomi operates as a strategic advisor and guide to leaders globally. She is a former creative director and model. As an international voice for Cultural Curiosity and inclusive leadership, Yomi has advised and presented at numerous organizations including Harvard, Yale, Milken Institute, MIT, the United Nations, The Wilson Center and TED. Yomi Abiola is a graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, Sciences Politiques Paris and Harvard. She currently serves as an associate to the UNESCO Chair for human rights as well as an MIT Legatum Catalyst. She is an editor at Vogue Italia online.

About this Event

The Fashion and Race Database Conversation Series is launching with a three-part panel series entitled, ‘Retail as a Portal,’ that explores how retail can empower us to produce and consume with positive, social impact and ignite systemic change. This series is hosted by professor and Founder of The Fashion and Race Database (www.fashionandrace.org), Kimberly Jenkins, and she will be joined by figures in the fashion constellation who are leading through visionary thinking and doing. The first installment of this series, ‘Retail as a Portal for Change,’ will feature an acclaimed design duo and an ethnobotanist who are transforming retail in both concept and practice. 

Thank you to our title sponsor, Holt Renfrew’s H Project which carries a mandate of connecting consumers, causes and communities to inspire a new generation of purposeful luxury and drive positive change in the world. The mandate of the Fashion and Race Database aligned with Holt Renfrew’s commitment to honour diversity and inclusion and we're thrilled to have their support and leadership in bringing these conversations forward.

All events are free to register and open to the public. The conversations will be recorded.

Byron and Dexter Peart are twin brothers and the co-founders of Want Les Essentiels, a cult high-end accessories label focused on making stylish and comfortable luggage and travel bags for frequent travellers. In 2017, they launched GOODEE (www.goodeeworld.com). GOODEE is a leading curated marketplace offering essential homewares and lifestyle products for better living. GOODEE leads the way in curating a marketplace that brings together the values of good design, good people, and good purpose.

Leigh Joseph (ancestral name Styawat), is an ethnobotanist, researcher and entrepreneur from the Squamish First Nation. She contributes to cultural knowledge renewal in connection to traditional plant foods and medicines.

As founder of Sḵwálwen Botanicals, Leigh brings together Indigenous science and self-care rituals, crafting skincare experiences grounded in the natural world. Sḵwálwen (skwall-win) translates roughly to “heart” or “essence of being” in the Squamish language. This name honours the inspiration behind the business: building connections to the land through working with plants in a way that feeds one’s heart and spirit. Sḵwálwen has been featured in Elle Canada, Flare, enRoute, HuffPost and Chatelaine. Learn more at www.skwalwen.com.