Fashion's Place in the Global Liberal Arts

Fashion is about much more than a look. Fashion speaks to key questions in the liberal arts. It is both fiercely personal and intensely global, mapping trends and movements across the world. It helps individuals express identities, nationalities and fantasies, while giving voice to marginalized communities. It is at once industry, luxury and basic human need. At AUP, we’ve been growing our offering related to this cultural cornerstone – and alumni support and success are key to this expansion.

The fashion industry worldwide is facing problems only the liberal arts can solve – from human rights abuses of garment workers in fast fashion to questions of sustainability and environmental degradation. Liberal arts scholars are well placed to take on these interdisciplinary challenges through encouraging the global trend toward ethical production and consumption practices. These solutions require creativity, innovation and academic rigor – all key aspects of the AUP classroom.

Flair Bodysuits

Paris provides the ideal backdrop to explore these topics in a historic and contemporary fashion capital. Paris Fashion Week, which takes place twice a year, provides exceptional networking opportunities and real-world context for studied theory, allowing students to immerse themselves in this exciting and evolving industry. Museums and archives, from the Yves St Laurent Museum to the Louis Vuitton Foundation, showcase important trends and questions, helping students connect fashion to global issues. Paris is a city in which fashion is made and remade live, on every corner and café terrasse.

Fashion studies has therefore become a vital and growing part of AUP’s global liberal arts approach. In 2020, the Department of Communication, Media and Culture launched a minor in fashion studies, and there are plans to expand this to a major in the near future. Graduate students in the MA in Global Communications can already choose to specialize via the program’s fashion track. “Fashion is a window to the world,” says Sophie Kurkdjian, Assistant Professor of Fashion Studies at AUP. “Studying fashion at AUP provides a unique opportunity to learn about a wealth of subjects – such as history, sociology, politics, communications, business and anthropology – while acquiring key skills such as creative and critical thinking.”

Luna Park

Along with Professor Renate Stauss, the Program Coordinator for Fashion Studies, Kurkdjian coorganizes a regular lecture series, Fashion Talks at AUP, now in its third year. The series brings prominent industry speakers to campus both in person and via video call, so students and other community members can gain intimate exposure to key industry players. These talks are all available for alumni to stream through the University’s YouTube Channel. An annual conference, the Digital Multilogue on Fashion Education, provides opportunities for students and faculty to collaborate with industry insiders on wide-ranging research projects: a further example of the hands-on nature of fashion classes at AUP.

Alumni are key players in helping build our global community of fashion industry professionals. Professor Stauss has recently launched a fashion alumni LinkedIn group to facilitate networking connections and spread sustainable, ethical fashion engagement from Paris to the rest of the world. Alumni professionals have also returned to campus to engage with students through events; if you work in the world of fashion and want to get involved, don’t hesitate to let us know.

GLINT / Style: Catherine Rochette