Prior to joining the faculty at St John’s, Emma McClendon worked as a curator at The Museum at The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) for nine years and taught in the Fashion Studies programs at Parsons and FIT. Her research focuses on the power dynamics inherent in the international fashion industry with a particular interest in body politics, labor, technology, and standardized sizing. Her recent publications include Power Mode: The Force of Fashion (2019), Denim: Fashion’s Frontier (2016), and Yves Saint Laurent + Halston: Fashioning the 70s (2015). She earned her MA in History of Dress from The Courtauld Institute of Art in London and an MA Hons. in Art History from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She is currently completing her PhD at Bard Graduate Center.

About
28th Annual Iris Foundation Awards
Honoring Irene Roosevelt Aitken, Dr. Julius Bryant, Dr. Meredith Martin, and Katherine Purcell
Bard Graduate Center is an advanced graduate research institute in New York City dedicated to the cultural histories of the material world. Our MA and PhD degree programs, Gallery exhibitions, research initiatives, scholarly publications and public programs explore new ways of thinking about decorative arts, design history, and material culture.
CANCELED—Enchanting Surfaces
Objects, Gender, and Ink Painting
A conversation with Peng Wei
April 2, 2025
Realgar Glass
Learning from the Archive, the…
A lecture by Julie Bellemare (BGC PhD ’21; The Corning Museum of Glass)
May 13, 2025