Silke Birte Geppert

Dr. Silke Birte Geppert serves as a Lecturer in the History of Fashion, Costume & Art within the Scenography Department at Mozarteum University Salzburg's Department of Fine Arts & Design. An active curator and author, she previously held significant roles including Director of Museum Schloss Ahrensburg (2000-2004) and Curator of Fashion at Vienna's MAK (2017-2020), where she curated the 'Maison Dior-Art and Fashion' exhibition.

Her educational background features:

• Doctorate in Fashion History (2011, University of Vienna) on 15th century fashion
• Studies in Fashion and Art History at the University of Vienna
• Professional training as a publishing bookseller in Hamburg

Geppert's research explores critical intersections between fashion and religion, film, stage costume, and temporality. She has pioneered studies on Burgundian fashion, textile history, and contemporary art-fashion dialogues, with particular emphasis on religious symbolism in dress. Her work addresses fashion polemics, traditional costume, and cultural phenomena like the Salzburg Festival through both academic and public-facing frameworks.

Analysis of her publications (2004-2023) reveals a sustained scholarly trajectory examining Christian religious symbolism in fashion, with recurring investigations into medieval and Burgundian dress traditions. Her recent output—including the forthcoming 2023 monograph 'Like a virgin_fashion and religion'—demonstrates evolving engagement with contemporary fashion-religion dynamics while maintaining historical rigor. The publications consistently bridge art historical methodology with sociological and theological perspectives.