RACHEL LIFTER, PhD NYU Steinhardt, Department of Art and Art Professions Barney Building, 34 Stuyvesant Street, New York, NY 10003 [email protected]
CURRENT POSITION
New York University, Steinhardt, Department of Art and Art Professions September 2020 – present Clinical Assistant Professor of Costume Studies Director of the MA Program in Costume Studies
PRIOR EXPERIENCE
The New School, Parsons, School of Art and Design History and Theory 2013-2020 Assistant Professor of Fashion Studies (2015 – 2016, 2017 – 2018, 2019 – 2020) Part-time Lecturer in Fashion Studies (2016 – 2017, 2018 – 2019) Post-doctoral Fellow in Fashion Studies (2013 – 2015)
Pratt Institute, Department of Fashion 2016 Visiting Associate Professor of Fashion
London College of Fashion, Department Cultural and Historical Studies 2008-2013 Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies (2012 – 2013) Part-time Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies (2008 – 2012)
Central Saint Martins, Department Cultural and Historical Studies 2012 – 2013 Part-time Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies
EDUCATION
PhD University of the Arts London, Fashion/Social and Cultural Studies, 2012 Dissertation: “Contemporary Indie and the Construction of Identity: Discursive Representations of Indie, Gendered Subjectivities and the Interconnections between Indie Music and Popular Fashion in the UK”
Supervisory Committee: Reina Lewis (Chair), Agnès Rocamora, Joanne Entwistle Defense Committee: Caroline Evans, Sean Nixon
MSc London School of Economics and Political Science, Sociology, 2006 Foci: Gender, Urban Studies Thesis Advisor: David Frisby
BA University of Pennsylvania, Major in German Studies, Minor in Hispanic Studies, 2005 Phi Beta Kappa; summa cum laude
Rachel Lifter Curriculum Vitae July 2020
PUBLICATIONS
Book 2020 Fashioning Indie: Popular Fashion, Music and Gender. London and New York: Bloomsbury, 2020.
Book Chapters 2020 “Styling ‘90s Hip-Hop, Fashioning Black Futures”. In Fashion Stylists: History, Meaning and Practice, edited by Ane Lynge-Jorlén, 155-172. London and New York: Bloomsbury, forthcoming August 2020.
2020 “Communicating Brand Identity, Creating Fashionable Identities”. In Communicating Fashion Brands: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives, edited by Emily Huggard and Jon Cope, 79-94. London: Routledge, 2020.
2018 “Fashioning pop: Stylists, fashion work and popular music imagery”. In Fashioning Professionals: Self, Identity and Representation at Work, edited by Felice McDowell and Leah Armstrong, 51-64. London: Bloomsbury, 2018.
2013 “Fashioning ‘indie’: The consecration of a subculture and the emergence of ‘stylish’ femininities”. In Fashion Cultures: Theories, Exploration and Analysis. 2nd Edition, edited by Stella Bruzzi and Pamela Church Gibson, 175-185. London: Routledge, 2013.
Exhibition Catalogue Articles 2014 “Resistance: Why does it still matter?”. Catalogue article accompanying the forthcoming “Clash – Counterculture in Fashion” exhibition at The Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, edited by Ane Lynge-Jorlén, 58-61. 2014.
Edited Volumes 2012 Working Papers in Fashion Studies 2. London: London College of Fashion, 2012. 2009 Working Papers in Fashion Studies. Co-edited with A. Lynge-Jorlén. London: London College of Fashion, 2009.
Book Reviews 2017 Rocamora, Agnès and Anneke Smelik (eds.) Thinking Through Fashion: A Guide to Key Theorists. In Fashion Theory 27, no. 1 (2017): 101-103. 2013 Riello, Giorgio and Peter McNeil (eds.) The Fashion History Reader: Global Perspectives. In Textile History 44, no. 2 (2013): 270-272.
Other Writing 2017 “A Feminist Moment: Mariah Carey”. In n0thing, edition 1, January 2017. 2014 “Beyoncé: The Visual Album”. In International Journal of Fashion Studies 1 (2): pp. 271-273.
Media Citations 2018 FashionBeans, “The Story of Hip-Hop Style, From Run DMC To ASAP Rocky”. 2018 Madame Figaro, “Los Angeles est devenue la nouvelle capitale américaine de la mode”. 2018 Harper’s Bazaar, “Hang Up Your Hoodies, The Fashion Fairy Nymph Is Here”. 2017 The Guardian, “How streetwear restyled the world”. 2017 Fashion Magazine, “Fashion Revolution: Is Festival Style moving beyond its boho past?”. 2016 Huffpost, “Anti-trend: The Unexpected Power of Ignoring the Latest Fads”.
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Rachel Lifter Curriculum Vitae July 2020
INVITED TALKS
2020 “Documenting Afropunk Fest: Afrocosmopolitanism and the American Fashionable Imaginary.” Leeds University, School of Media and Communication, March 2020. Postponed until Fall 2020.
2020 “Inventing (and Reinventing) Festival Fashion.” London College of Fashion, Fashion Media and Communication Hub, March 2020. Postponed until Fall 2020.
2019 “Youth Culture and the Values Shaping Contemporary Fashion.” Cornell College of Human Ecology, Graduate Seminar Speaker Series, March 2019.
2018 Conversation: “Respect Me: Women in the Cultural Industries.” GROUPHUG, NYC x Design Week, May 2018. Co-panelists included Melissa Cullens (Ellevest), Ronlee BenGal (the Skimm) and Erica Fite (Fancy); organized by Krystal Persaud (Grouphug).
2018 Conversation: “Hair and cultural appropriation.” Parsons School of Design, Fashion Cultures Guest Lectures, April 2018. Interviewed Amy Farid, Native American hair-dresser for fashion.
2016 Conversation: “Gender in Fashion and Performance.” Soho House, Harper’s Bazaar x Prada, September 2016. Co-panelists included Kerry Pieri (Harper’s Bazaar) and Jean Huang (Prada)
2016 “Styling Beyoncé.” Black Frame, Academic Talks, June 2016.
2014 “Lana del Rey: Sights and Sounds of the Sad Girl.” Pratt Institute, Visiting Scholar Series, October 2014.
2014 Dialogue: “Solange Knowles’ Afro-cosmopolitan Blackness.” Parsons School of Design, Fashion + Politics Symposium, February 2014. Co-panelist with Sara Kozlowski (CFDA).
2013 “Mixing and matching as a contemporary fashion discourse.” CUNY Graduate Center, Launch of “Fashion” Issue of WSQ, October 2013.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
2016 “AFROPUNK Fest: Black Cosmopolitanism “At Home” at a Summer Music Festival?” American Studies Association Annual Conference. Denver, CO. November 2016.
2015 “Fashioning Pop Stars, Designing Femininities and Feminisms”. Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Annual Conference. New Orleans. April 2015.
2014 “Second-hand Retailers as Alternative Cultural Intermediaries: The story of Beyond Retro”. Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association’s Annual Conference. Chicago, IL. April 2014.
2013 “The Politics of ‘Style’: Masculinized Subjectivity, Racial Privilege and Popular Fashion in contemporary Britain”. Panel on “Fashion Discourse”. Gender, Race and Representation at Cornell University. Ithaca, NY. October 2013.
2012 “Fashioning ‘Indie’: The Consecration of a Subculture and the Emergence of ‘Stylish’ Femininities”. Panel on Youth Culture and Style. European Popular Cultural Association’s Inaugural Conference. London College of Fashion. London, UK. June 2012.
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Rachel Lifter Curriculum Vitae July 2020
2010 “Methodological Questions for Studying a Popular Cultural Formation”. Concepts of Fashion Studies Conference. Center for Fashion Studies at Stockholm University. November 2010.
TEACHING AND MENTORSHIP
New York University (Fall 2020, assigned) I am the incoming director of the MA Costume Studies program. I will lead research seminars on this program for first- and second-year students and I will serve as thesis advisor to second year students.
Courses: - Literature and Methodology of Costume Studies, Graduate Seminar - Research in Costume Studies, Graduate Seminar
The New School (2013-2020) I was a core faculty member on the MA Fashion Studies program, for which I taught required and elective seminar courses and directed individual thesis projects. I also had teaching and administrative responsibilities with the undergraduate student body. I was the coordinator of Advanced Research seminar - a research methods course required of all BFA students at Parsons; I served as thesis faculty for the BFA Fashion Design program; and I offered elective courses to undergraduate students across The New School.
Courses: - Advanced Thesis Preparation, Graduate Seminar - Key Concepts in Fashion Studies, Graduate Seminar - Interpreting Fashion, Graduate Seminar - Advanced Research Seminar: Fashion, Undergraduate Seminar - BFA Fashion Design Thesis: Womenswear (practical; co-taught with Markus Huemer) - Pop! Fashion, Music and Cultural Studies, Graduate and Undergraduate Seminar - Fashion and the Body, Graduate and Undergraduate Seminar
Thesis Projects (sample from approximately 25 theses): - Shayna Goncalves: Awuleth ummini wami (Bring me my mini): South African Femininity Explored through Mixed Signals of The Miniskirt - Juan Pedro Cámara Pérez: Woman Nation: The Body of Miss Venezuela and the Construction of the Homeland - Yanran Xiong: All About the Hype? Hip-Hop, Streetwear and Digital Fashion - Shefali Jauhar: Men at Work, Then and Now: Male Modeling and Masculinity in the Indian Fashion Industry
Pratt Institute (2016)
- Contextualizing Fashion, Undergraduate Seminar
London College of Fashion (2008-2013)
- The Body and Performance, Undergraduate Seminar - The Fashioned Body, Undergraduate Seminar - Seminar tutor on: Introduction to Cultural and Historical Studies; Fashion Media; Music and Fashion, Consumption and Contemporary Culture, Commodifying Desire, Film and Fashion, The Fashioned Body, and Foundation in Art and Design.
Central Saint Martins (2012-2013)
- BFA Fashion Design thesis supervisor (written)
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Rachel Lifter Curriculum Vitae July 2020
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Reviews and Open Space Editor, International Journal of Fashion Studies, Intellect, Ltd., 2014 – 2017
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