6 minute read
CONTRIBUTOR BIOS
Itala Aguilera is a textile artist from Mexico City. She is interested in reflecting the exploration of the unconscious and sexuality through clothing and textiles. She experiments with a mix of textiles and unconventional materials in her work and is currently playing with crochet, knitting, and ceramics in her practice. @italaaguilera
Henrique Grimaldi Figueredo is a PhD student in Sociology at the University of Campinas (IFCH-UNICAMP), São Paulo, Brazil. He is also a PhD candidate in Sociology at l’École des Hautes Éudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris, France. Executive editor of “All the Arts Luso-Brazilian Journal of Art and Culture,” University of Porto, Portugal. He is a scholarship recipient at FAPESP- Research Support Foundation of the State of São Paulo.
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Elena Johansen is a 2021 graduate of the MA Fashion Studies program at Parsons School of Design. Before moving to New York from Oregon, she worked in financial technology and is focusing her academic and career efforts in Fashion Archiving. She is currently a Research Assistant for two Parsons faculty and also a Teaching Assistant for an undergraduate History of Fashion course. She recently completed her MA thesis titled “Monstrous Women: Costuming Horror Film in the 21st Century.” It investigates the costuming of women in a selection of horror films from the 21st century and how these costumes express and intensify the current social and cultural narrative.
Asato Kitamura was born in 1996 in Japan. His creation comes from two basic desires. The first is to help people who are misunderstood make sense of this existence, and the second is to have an outlet for the feelings he has built up from his creative world. This world is a peculiar, somber, and vaguely spiritual space, where multiple detached versions of himself exist. For him, fashion design is the only way out of loneliness and the only way to save others from loneliness. The fashion that goes from creator to others and is perfected by wearing is the only bond between him and others and it is the strongest communication for him. @asato_kitamura
Sasha de Koninck is an artist and researcher from Santa Monica, CA. She graduated in 2013 with a BFA in fibers, a minor in creative writing, and a concentration in sound art from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). The next leg of her journey led her to the Windy City, where she graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) with an MFA in Fiber and Material Studies. She is currently a PhD student in Intermedia Art, Writing, and Performance at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she works with Laura Devendorf and the Unstable Design Lab. Currently, her work is centered around labor and the undoing of labor; the relationship between the body and the garment; and dissolving. studiosdk.net
Mailye Matos currently works as a stylist and lecturer on fashion history and theory at Universidad del Sagrado Corazon where she also obtained a BA in Communications. She ís passionate about fashion sociology and fashion’s role in shaping identity, politics, and societal structures. She was born in New Jersey and raised in Puerto Rico. Traveling between New York and Puerto Rico initially inspired her interest in fashion. Her experience as an international exchange student in Universidad Argentina de la Empresa exposed her to fashion history and sociology.
Maureen Muse uses photography, video, installation, and performance to communicate stories, particularly narratives that visualize an embodied discomfort and rebelliousness towards one’s own existence. She received a BFA in 2017 from Parsons Paris studying in the program of Art, Media, and Technology. She also spent time in Paris studying photography and video at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ENSAD). maureenmuse.com
Dominique Norman has served as a part-time faculty member at Parsons School of Design in the School of Art and Design History and Theory and currently teaches a course at Marymount Manhattan College titled Fashion, Media, and Culture. Her work as an educator, writer, and activist examines the intersections of race, gender, the body, sexuality, culture, media, beauty, and fashion. She received a BA in Apparel Merchandising, Design, and Textiles from Washington State University where she created the first plus-size collection as well as one of the only collections to feature all models of color. Following her undergraduate career she obtained a Master of Arts in Fashion Studies with a certificate in Gender & Sexuality Studies from The New School Parsons School of Design. dominiquenorman.com
Lorena Pèrez is a journalist specialized in Digital Journalism from Universidad de San Andrès (UDESA) and Universidad Nacional de San Martìn (UNSAM). Based in Buenos Aires, Lorena runs Blocdemoda.com (2006). She is also a professor of Fashion Marketing and Digital Communication at the University of Palermo. She has published in newspapers such as La Naciôn, and El Cronista and in magazines including L’Officiel, GQ, and Cosmopolitan. She is writing a book on the history of fashion and design in Argentina.
Usury Sacramento is currently a junior studying in the BFA Fashion Design Program at Parsons School of Design. Their work is focused on systems and society, how humans interact with social issues through fashion. They are concerned with creating meaning by advocating and addressing issues through their designs.
Noyonika Sircar is in her first year of the MA Fashion Studies program at Parsons Paris. She believes in tapping the nuances within cultures, politics, fashion and people who shape the digital landscape. Her article, “Utopia Through Dystopia: The Fashionable Usurpation of Politics by Dior and Chanel,” questions the overarching role of fashion within politics and examines how fashion can be used as a tool for resistance and protest.
Dee Williams is creating imagery that makes the status quo uncomfortable. She is a Los Angeles/NYC-based portrait photographer finding inspiration from those around her. Dee’s work is devoted to highlighting the beauty within marginalized communities. Commercial, editorial, and fashion commissions with an overall theme that aligns with this devotion are always welcomed. deexdee.com
Isaiah Winters is a documentary photographer and conceptual artist based between Brooklyn, NY ande Baltimore, MD. He focuses on architecture, social landscapes, and analog photography to assist in giving his work a nostalgic and romantic feel. He enjoys emphasizing certain aspects or colors within his work; to highlight the effects everyday light and composition have on all of us. He has gravitated towards documentary photography and portraiture that tells a narrative. Currently working with archival and appropriated content from the twentieth century. He has spent the last few years coming to terms with his own identity, and attempting to work through questions of what it means to be a Black male in today’s society. He believes that through more representation in the visual arts and beyond, we can work to empower our next generation of Black leaders. @isaiahrw isaiahrw.com
Lilia Yip is a fashion designer, visual artist and musician, threading the different strands into a creative practice where conceptual pattern cutting, imagery, text, sound and material are combined to build a subtle form of communication. Adopting a humanistic approach to design, she creates work that exists on the boundaries between our cultures, identities, and bodies; where the wearable and surreal meet. The principles of ethical and sustainable practice underpin her design process. Longevity, provenance, emotional connectivity and zero waste are key concepts that she continues to explore and develop from design through to representation. Lilia is a Lecturer in Fashion Design and Development at London College of Fashion (LCF), University of the Arts, London and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is based between UK and Singapore. liliayip.com
