Hazel Clark

Dr. Hazel Clark teaches at the School of Art and Design History and Theory at Parsons The New School. Dr. Clark was one of the first graduates in Britain to be awarded a PhD in the history of design and has since published on the history and theory of design, with a focus on fashion and textiles. Before Parsons, Dr. Clark was head of the Swire School of Design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic (now the Hong Kong Polytechnic University).

Professor Clark holds a PhD in design history and a degree in Fine Arts. She considers the study of history and theory critical for those who intend to become design and art practitioners as well as people pursuing focused interdisciplinary scholarship in those fields. She initiated the MA Fashion Studies program, which Parsons began offering in Fall 2010, and worked with colleagues on the MA Design Studies program. These programs complement the MA in History of Design and Curatorial Studies.

Her scholarly articles and books include ‘The Cheongsam’ (2000), the co-edited ‘Old Clothes, New Looks: Second Hand Fashion’ (2005), ‘The Fabric of Cultures: Fashion, Identity, and Globalisation’ (2009), ‘Design Studies: A Reader’ (2009), ‘SLOW + FASHION – an Oxymoron, or a Promise for the Future..?’, (2008); the co-authored ‘Fashion and Everyday Life: Britain and America’ (2017), and the co-edited anthology ‘Fashion Curating: In the Museum and Beyond’ (2017).

Professor Clark has served as a professional consultant and at the New School she has held public conversations with fashion luminaries including Diane von Furstenberg and Eileen Fisher.