Elke Gaugele

Elke Gaugele is a cultural anthropologist and Professor for Fashion and Styles/Contextual Design at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Her work intersects postcolonial theory, feminist critique, and global justice frameworks to analyze fashion’s role in societal structures.

• Academic Affiliation: Institute for Education in the Arts, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
• Key Research: Politics of fashion, ethics in design, migration narratives, far-right extremism

Her research explores:

• Fashion as a site of social justice and ecological responsibility
• Intersections between decolonial aesthetics and gendered identities
• Art/design’s potential to counter right-wing populism

Recent publications include:

• Fashion Knowledge (2022) on interdisciplinary methodologies
• Fashion and Postcolonial Critique (2019) addressing colonial legacies
• Fashion as Politics (2019) examining dissent through dress

Scientific Awards:

• Lise Meitner Habilitation Grant (2005)
• Maria Goeppert-Mayer Guest Professorship (2004)

She directed the Austrian Center for Fashion Research (2017-2021) and contributed to the DFG Network Entangled Histories of Art and Migration (2018-2022).