Francesca Granata

Francesca Granata serves as Associate Professor in the School of Art and Design History and Theory at Parsons School of Design, The New School. Her position bridges fashion scholarship, curatorial practice, and critical theory within one of the world's leading design institutions. Granata actively shapes academic discourse through teaching, research, and institutional leadership in fashion studies.

Her educational background reflects interdisciplinary rigor:

• PhD in Visual and Material Culture, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London
• MA in Cinema and Media Studies, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU
• BA in Art History, Tufts University
• BFA in Visual Arts, Tufts University

Granata's research interrogates fashion as a cultural, political, and aesthetic force. Her scholarship centers on fashion history and theory, with critical examinations of gender performance, visual culture, and sustainability. She explores how fashion mediates identity categories through frameworks like Bakhtinian carnival theory and queer performativity, particularly examining historical moments like the AIDS crisis. Her work consistently challenges disciplinary boundaries between fashion, art, and performance.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals evolving trajectories: early work established foundational critiques of fashion criticism's academic legitimacy, while current research expands into transdisciplinary practices, ethical production, and global fashion narratives. The persistent thread is fashion's role in negotiating social change through material culture.

Her scholarly impact is recognized through prestigious awards:

• Coby Foundation grant for curatorial projects
• Polaire Weissman Fellowship at The Met Costume Institute
• Belgian-American Education Foundation support
• New York City Department of Cultural Affairs funding
• University of the Arts London research portfolio

Granata directs significant academic initiatives including thesis supervision for graduate students and founding the non-profit journal Fashion Projects. Her grant portfolio demonstrates sustained institutional support for research into fashion curation, sustainable practices, and critical discourse. Major exhibitions like 'Otherworldly: Performance, Costume and Difference' (Performa 19 Biennial) and 'Ethics + Aesthetics' showcase her curatorial leadership in connecting fashion to urgent social conversations.

As founder of Fashion Projects—a fiscally sponsored NYFA initiative—she has built a vital platform for fashion scholarship. Her curatorial partnerships with institutions like The Met, MoMA PS1, and Somerset House establish her as a bridge between academic research and public-facing cultural production.