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Dr Benjamin Wild

@benjamin__wild

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Reader in Fashion Narratives @mcrfashioninstitute @manmetuni | Lead: @ffashion_narratives
Fashion | History | Culture
Author | TED talker | Runner

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

As we prepare to start the project, we thought we’d introduce ourselves through the next few posts. First up: project lead, Dr Benjamin Wild…

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THE "VIRGIL ABLOH EFFECT"

The role of the PhD examiner is to evaluate a doctoral candidate's written dissertation and oral defense (viva) to ensure the research meets high academic standards and contributes original knowledge to the field.

I want to express my deepest gratitude to my esteemed PhD examiners Robin Givhan, Dr. Benjamin Wild and Dr. Stefano Marnino for their generous time, invaluable feedback, rigorous questions, and for making my viva on Virgil Abloh an engaging and intellectually stimulating experience. This ranks as one of the most important moments of my life.

@robingivhan is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American fashion critic and cultural journalist best known for her sharp essays that analyze fashion through the lenses of race, politics, and power. She spent more than 25 years at The Washington Post, where she served as fashion critic and senior critic-at-large. Givhan has contributed as an opinion writer for major publications like The New York Times and authored the acclaimed books including Make It Ours: Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Abloh (Crown/Penguin Random House publishing).

@benjamin__wild is a prominent UK cultural historian, author, and academic who specializes in the history of dress, fashion narratives, and material culture. He serves as a Reader in Fashion Narratives and the Division Head for Fashion Communication at the Manchester Fashion Institute within Manchester Metropolitan University. Dr. Wild's work explores how engagement with dress shapes personal and communal identities, specifically looking at how fashion can address global and societal challenges.

Dr. Stefano Marino is Associate Professor of Aesthetics and the Director of the Bachelor Degree Program in "Fashion Cultures and Practices" at the University of Bologna (Rimini Campus). In 2021 Dr. Marino obtained the Italian National Scientific Qualification as Full Professor. In 2025, he won the "Somaesthetics Research Prize" of the American Society for Aesthetics. His main research fields include critical theory of society and somaesthetics, the aesthetics of fashion,and the philosophy of music.

#fashionstudies #phd

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It’s Performance! Corpi in movimento nel panorama contemporaneo

@fondazione_fila_museum

Il Panel è stato curato da Daniele Licata
con la partecipazione di
Collettivo Crampo @collettivocrampo
Virginia Sommadossi @virginia_sommadossi
Vincenzo Estremo @diluente
Alessandra Saviotti @alesavias
Michele Cerruti
Benjamin Wild @benjamin__wild

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Summer run.

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Always with the hands — Or: Semaphoring the end of the academic year.

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Sharing is caring — Yesterday, Group members contributed to Manchester Fashion Institute’s first Summer Symposium (@mcrfashioninstitute). This School-wide event, which welcomed attendees from across and beyond Manchester Metropolitan University (@manmetuni), provided a space to share personal stories of research and practice as a spur for greater reflection and collaboration. The diversity and impact of the work presented was as exciting as it was impressive. As the academic year draws to a close, it was inspirational and motivating to hear all that has been achieved over the past twelve months, and to learn about all that is to come!

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Fashion as Narrative: From Pre-history to the Present Day — This Thursday, we conclude our Talking Through F/fashion seminar series for 25/26 by welcoming Dr Karina Grömer, Head of the Pre-history department at Vienna’s Natural History Museum (@nhmwien).

An in conversation with Dr Benjamin Wild will explore fashion as a form of universal human communication and storytelling.

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Meet Fashion in Action - our new series of short books on key global issues in fashion.

These critical books ask future generations of readers to rethink conventions and help shape a conscious, inclusive and sustainable future for all.

📗Slow by @hazelclark_nyc (out now)
📕Failure by @nickreesroberts (out now)
📙Appropriation by @benjamin__wild (out now)
📘Animal by @segrereinach (out autumn/fall)

Head to the link in bio to find out more about the series 🔗

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Running it out — 💚

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Well-curated Sunday.

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Fashion in Action — On Wednesday, we hosted an event to celebrate the upcoming launch of Fashion in Action, a new book series that takes a critical look at the realities shaping fashion today. The evening brought together Group lead Dr Benjamin Wild (@benjamin__wild) and Visiting Professor in Fashion Narratives Hazel Clark (@hazelclark_nyc), who introduced the series which includes titles written by @nickreesroberts and @segrereinach.

Hazel’s book Slow, reflects on fashion’s cultural influence and its potential to act as a force for sustainability rather than against it. Ben’s Appropriation explores the complex and often uncomfortable histories of cultural appropriation, opening up important questions about accountability and what comes next. In Failure, Nick Rees Roberts examines creative and commercial breakdowns to consider how systemic issues within fashion might be addressed.
Animal, sees Simona Segre Reinach challenging our reliance on animal products and the contradictions embedded within this relationship.

Hazel and Ben shared excerpts from their books, offering a powerful and engaging insight into their thinking and research. Each title is unique in voice and approach, collectively forming a timely conversation about where fashion is now and where it needs to go.

The series is published by @bloomsburyfashion and is in store (including in the @blackwellsmcr next to campus) and online.

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