Professor Stauss has been teaching fashion theory as well as cultural and critical studies in fashion at The American University of Paris since 2013. As a lecturer in fashion she has been working at a number of universities in London and Berlin since 2003, at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, Goldsmiths College, Esmod, and the Berlin University of the Arts, where she remains an associate lecturer. She was part of the faculty at the Royal College of Art in London in the Department of Critical Studies for ten years. Following her studies in Fashion Communication (BA) and Communication, Culture and Society (MA) Stauss completed her PhD on Dress as Therapy: Working with Dress on the Self in Therapeutic Settings (University of the Arts London). The focus of her teaching and scholarship lies on the sociology and politics of fashion and dress, including the following subjects: relationships between dress and identity, fashion under socialism, the emotional and sensory impact of dress, fashion for a sustainable world. Renate has published in the area of fashion studies, fashion theory and pedagogy.
Current research interests include:
• fashion and politics
• the perception and potential of fashion
• the emergence of fashion theory
• the role and impact of the mirror in the act of getting
dressed
• fashion education – how we learn and teach fashion
Research Areas and Areas of Expertise:
• fashion theory
• cultural history of fashion (1900–)
• sociology of dress and fashion
• fashion and politics
• sustainability in fashion
• dress as therapy
• fashion education
• I am currently organizing the Multilogue 2021 on Fashion Education – A Conference on Learning and Teaching Fashion in Theory and Practice– a participatory and outcome-oriented space focused on the learning and teaching of fashion at tertiary level. It aims to explore and illustrate the diversity and complexity of the field and the practices of fashion education. It aims to foster a greater understanding of its pasts, presents and futures – methods, values and didactic, pedagogic and epistemological questions. This conference thus seeks to inspire mutual learning, collaborative research and shared action – fashion educations for NOW. Facilitated by The American University of Paris, France, online event, 1–2 October 2021 (with Prof Franziska Schreiber) https://www.aup.edu/conferences/fashion-education
• The rich & open-access Proceedings of the Digital Multilogue on Fashion Education 2020 have just been published! With inspiring contributions by: Zowie Broach, Matthew Drinkwater, Kimberly Jenkins, Sarah Mower, Alistair O’Neill, Dilys Williams et. al. Enjoy the read! Edited by Renate Stauss & Franziska Schreiber – download here: https://www.aup.edu/sites/default/files/download/Digital%20Multilogue%20on%20Fashion%20Education%202020_The%20Proceedings.pdf
• Fashion is a great teacher: The fashion education podcast. I recently launched a podcast on fashion education https://fashionisagreatteacher.buzzsprout.com/ (with Franziska Schreiber) Fashion is a great teacher because it provides a fantastic lens to learn about the world and its people, about history, politics and culture. Join Renate Stauss and Franziska Schreiber, professors of fashion theory and fashion design in Paris and Berlin to discover the most inspiring voices in fashion education, their take on the how and why of learning and teaching fashion, their doubts and hopes, their lessons from fashion. The latest episodes include interviews with: Dilys Williams, Valerie Steele, Zowie Broach, Alistair O’Neill and Christina Moon.
• Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body and Culture. has recently published my article: ‘Passing as Fashionable, Feminine and Sane: “Therapy of Fashion” and the Normalisation of Psychiatric Patients in 1960s US’ in: Fashion Theory. Vol. 24(4), pp. 601–637. (doi.org/10.1080/1362704X.2020.1746515)
(2020) organizer of conference: Fashion Education: Learning and Teaching Fashion in Theory and Practice. https://www.aup.edu/fashion-education, 2–3 October 2020, The American University of Paris. (with Prof Franziska Schreiber)
(2020) Jury member of the competition ‘Bielefelder Modepreis’ (fashion prize) University of Applied Science, Bielefeld, Germany, 25 January 2020
(2019) Hybridity of Method and Theory: Research and Work in the Margins – Fashion & Other Case Studies, co-convenor of research symposium (with Robert Earhart), The American University of Paris, France, 14 November 2019.
(2019) ‘Fashion Education Retreat’, professional development workshop & retreat for fashion educators, 30 September–1 October 2019, Gutshof Sauen, Berlin Center for Higher Education, Germany. (with Prof Franziska Schreiber)
(2019) Jury member of the competition ‘Transparenz in der Modebranche’ (Transparency in Fashion) Loveco, Berlin, Germany, 26 August 2019.
(2019) ‘Lost in Reflection: Clothes, Mirrors and the Self’ paper delivered at: The Annual Conference of the Association for Art History, Brighton, UK, 6 April 2019. (with Lucia Ruggerone)
(2019) ‘Fashion Education: Learning and Teaching Fashion in Theory and Practice’ professional development workshop for fashion educators, 1 April 2019, Berlin Center for Higher Education, Germany. (with Prof Franziska Schreiber)
(2018) ‘Mode & Diversität: Mehr als nur ein Marketingtrend?’ (Fashion & Diversity: More than a Marketing trend?) member of panel discussion, Ethical Fashion, Prepeek Powered by Fashion Changers, Kraftwerk, Berlin, Germany, 3 July 2018.
(2018) ‘Using Foucault’s Technologies of the Self to Analyse Fashion’ New York University, London, 15. November
2018.
(2018) ‘Passing as Fashionable, Feminine and Sane: “Therapy of Fashion” and the Normalisation of Psychiatric Patients in 1960s US’ Passing: Fashion in American Cities, The Courtauld Institute of Art, London, 5. Mai 2018.
(2017) ‘In the Land of Mirrors: Vêtothérapie in France. On Forced Forms of Self-reflection and Image-based Notions of a Fashionable Self’ Revisiting the Gaze: Feminism, Fashion & the Female Body. Chelsea College of Arts, UAL, London, 28.–29. Juni 2017.
(2009) ‘La Vêtothèque: Dress Therapy in France’ Fashion and Food, Annual Symposium of the Research Centre for Fashion, the Body & Material Cultures. Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London, 25. Juni 2009.
(2008/9) ‘Beyond Espionage: Fashion under Socialism’, Cold War Modern, Friday Late, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 31 October 2008 & British Film Institute Southbank, NFT, 8. Januar 2009 (co-Kuration with Marketa Uhlirova).
Einstein Foundation grant: € 29408,00 Einstein Circle / team bid
Civic Media Lab / Mellon Grant: € 4100 conference oragnisation funding
Network Fashion & Textiles grant: € 1000 conference organisation funding