Dr. Mark Joseph O’Connell Feb. 25, 2025. Article Citation: O’Connell, Mark Joseph. 2024. Iris Simpson: A Trailblazer in Canadian Fashion History. Seneca Polytechnic Canadian Fashion Diversity Project. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.14925960. INTRODUCTION “Iris Simpson” Photo courtesy @ “Coming full circle from classroom to high fashion and back” https://magazine.torontomu.ca/classroom-high-fashion/ Iris Simpson’s name may not be as widely recognized as some of the designers she worked with, but her impact on Canadian fashion is undeniable. As a pioneering Black woman in the luxury fashionRead more
Posts tagged: #fashion
The Quadruple Helix in Fashion Paradigms: Bridging Innovation, Sustainability, and Societal Impact for a Regenerative Future
Abstract This research explores the transformative potential of the Quadruple Helix model within fashion education, expanding upon the traditional Triple Helix framework by integrating civil society and environmental sustainability as critical drivers of innovation. While the Triple Helix model emphasizes the interplay between academia, industry, and government, the Quadruple Helix adds a vital dimension that addresses the fashion industry’s environmental impact, labour ethics, and the need for systemic change. Given fashion’s role as one of the most resource-intensive and pollutingRead more
Los Cubanos Americanos: The Collaboration of Isabel and Ruben Toledo, a Fusion of High Fashion and Art
Dr. Mark Joseph O’Connell Oct. 14, 2024. “Fabric creates movement. Not only color, but the depth of the cloth” (Isabel Toledo qtd. in Amoroso 2014) Isabel and Ruben Toledo — Cuban-born American creatives both — forged a dynamic and highly influential partnership that left a lasting imprint on fashion, design and art worlds alike. Their collaboration, which seamlessly blended their personal and professional lives, can be examined for their unique ability to merge the tactile artistry of fashion design withRead more
‘The Role of Open AI in Fashion: Transforming Creativity Through Innovation?’ (O’Connell 2024)
My article ‘The Role of Open AI in Fashion: Transforming Creativity Through Innovation?’ (O’Connell 2024) has just been published. The article was inspired my own research for an AI and fashion committee I was on recently at Seneca Polytechnic. My work on the academic committee to explore the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in fashion education was a dynamic and collaborative endeavour undertaken during May-June 2024. The committee, comprised of faculty members, Seneca School of Fashion (SoF) staff, and technologyRead more
Stitching a Digital Age: The Convergence of Style and Technology (2025)
Stitching a Digital Age: The Convergence of Style and Technology (2025) by dr. Mark Joseph O’Connell, Toronto: Markoconnellstudio, publishing date: January 2025. In Stitching a Digital Age, readers embark on a journey through the dynamic world where fashion meets innovation. This book critically delves deep into how technological advancements are revolutionizing the fashion industry, from the way garments are designed and produced to how they are marketed and worn. The research also delves into the ways in which technological advancements areRead more
Lilac Time at the Rodeo
Lilac Time at the Rodeo 2: Stories of Marie Debris, David Wojnarowicz, Martin Wong (Publication Date February 14, 2024!). The subjects of the Lilac Time series of books are Queer fashion and art practitioners we lost to AIDS. In Lilac Time at the Rodeo 2 we visit with: Marie Debris, David Wojnarowicz, Martin Wong, and Peter Hujar. These people because of the stigma attached to their illness, were never properly eulogized. Bright, brilliant, and visionary all, the loss of themRead more
Luxury Studies: The In Pursuit of Luxury Journal
I am pleased to announce that I am an editorial board member of: Luxury Studies: The In Pursuit of Luxury Journal. “As a term which has made its way into everyday language, the idea of luxury has secured a place in contemporary society. Luxury Studies: The In Pursuit of Luxury Journal explores the many issues and debates surrounding the idea of luxury as a historical and contemporary phenomenon, both critically and commercially.” For me the concept of “luxury” is what drives theRead more
Succès de Scandale: Homophobia, Racism and Abject Marketing in Fashion
Succès de Scandale, the manipulation of outcry over the deliberately shocking, has been used frequently to garner notoriety and fame in the past. Currently, fashion brands are notorious for dropping crypto-offensive items into their marketing and then backing off with a meagre apology when customers react with legitimate offence. Social media hashtags generate viral visibility, and the associated brand is amplified exponentially. Engaging in this dance between the edgy and the truly offensive becomes tactical for brands to appear ‘cool’,Read more
“Cosmetics, Glamour and AIDS: Way Bandy, Scott Barrie and Halston”
“We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.”― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe I presented “Cosmetics, Glamour and AIDS: Way Bandy, Scott Barrie and Halston” Thursday, July 1st at 1pm Toronto time for the Sartorial Society Series @SartorialSeries https://www.sartorialsocietyseries.com/ Here is the recording: https://www.sartorialsocietyseries.com/ My talk was part of week 5: Week Five: Trauma & the Legacies of Loss 1st July 2021 Lucy Adlington (20-minute paper) The Apple-Green Gown: Ghosts of ADEFA and Nazi Germany Mark O’Connell (20-minute paper)Read more
Redefining Design 2019, Seneca College Fashion Arts (FAA) Graduate Collections
Congratulations to our class of 2019 graduating Fashion Arts students (FAA) of Seneca College. The collections that were seen on the runway at Daniel’s Spectrum on the evening of Thursday, April 25th were truly outstanding. On display-aside from the excellent construction and design expertise-were sustainability innovations, clever subversion of cultural tropes and stereotypes, intriguing exploration of proportion, as well as gender subversive design concepts. It was exciting to see the end result of all the hard work, creativity and skillRead more
“Items: Is Fashion Modern?” at the MOMA
Visited the “Items: Is Fashion Modern” Exhibition at MOMA which is described on the museum website as an exhibit that “explores the present, past—and sometimes the future—of 111 items of clothing and accessories that have had a strong impact on the world in the 20th and 21st centuries—and continue to hold currency today”. Some of these items are of modern vintage like Levi’s 501s, the Breton shirt, and “the Little Black Dress”, and there also ancient and “culturally charged” items likeRead more
Stolen Goods: Plagiarism and Fashion Scholarship
“Arsenic Dress”: English or French, c. 1860s The Fashion Research Collection at Ryerson University. Gift The Racked website, recently published a piece on toxic clothing that appears to be an unattributed reproduction of a body of work by Ryerson University fashion scholar Dr. Alison Matthews David. The Racked post even includes a photo of the arsenic dress from the popular “Fashion Victims” exhibition at the Bata Shoe museum in Toronto that Matthews David and Bata head curator Elizabeth Semmelhack co-curated. http://www.batashoemuseum.ca/fashion-victims/Read more
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