Serena Lee

Sartorial Biographies: Fashioning Black Identities in Early Modern Britain

I am a lecturer in Contextual Studies teaching Fashion History and Theory, and Theories of Culture, at London College of Creative Arts. I earned a BA (Hons) in Fashion Business and Promotion from Birmingham City University, then went on to pursue an MA in Fashion Critical Studies from Central Saint Martins, UAL, where I developed a critical eye for the cultural and historical context of fashion.

Alongside my academic pursuits, I am the founder of Georgian_Diaspora, an innovative Instagram platform that showcases multicultural portraiture in art history. I am committed to exploring and highlighting the diverse and often underrepresented facets of visual culture that shape our understanding of the world.

I have worked with Royal Museums Greenwich on the Migration and Belonging project, and on a BBC Radio 4 documentary on Black Hair and Beauty. I have also been a guest lecturer at various institutions, including Central Saint Martins and the Courtauld Institute.

My supervisors are Professor Alistair O’Neill and Dr Tanveer Ahmed, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London and Dr Christine Checinska and Dr Susan North, V&A.

Selected publications

Article in the Fashion Theory: Africa Fashion Special Issue

‘An adorned Black trumpeter encapsulated in posterity’, contribution to The John Blanke Project: Imagine the Black Tudor Trumpeter