Lecture by Dr. Leroy Shopen: “Fashion and Human Nature”

A journey through the winding and surprising relationship between the natural world and the fashion industry: inventions and discoveries, inspirations and innovations, as well as dangers lurking in everyone’s wardrobe.

Why are dressing and adorning ourselves part of human nature? Why would humanity not survive without clothes? How does nature serve as a source of inspiration for fashion? What do bodily fluids symbolize for Elizabeth I, Queen of England? How did flowers become an act of defiance for Christian Dior? What is the connection between fashion and death? And when did things get out of control, turning a facet of human nature into destructive consumption?

Editor and lecturer: Dr. Leroy Shopen, cultural researcher and fashion theorist, research fellow at Bar-Ilan University, and lecturer at the Hebrew University and Shenkar. His articles have been published in leading journals and media outlets in Israel and abroad.