Our Speakers
DR. JONATHAN M. SQUARE
Jonathan Michael Square is a writer, historian, and curator specializing in fashion and visual culture of the African Diaspora. He has a PhD in history from New York University, a master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and a B.A. from Cornell University. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Fashion Institute of Technology, Parsons School of Design, and currently at Harvard University. He has written for Fashionista, Fashion Studies Journal, Refinery29, Vestoj, Hyperallergic, British Art Studies, Guernica, and International Journal of Fashion Studies. A proponent in the power of social media as a platform for radical pedagogy, he founded and runs the digital humanities project Fashioning the Self in Slavery and Freedom, which explores the intersection of fashion and slavery.
LAURA JOHNSON
Laura Johnson is the director at Zebedee, a specialist talent agency for disabled and visibly different actors and models in the UK and the US. Laura set up the agency with her sister-in-law Zoe in 2017 after ten years of experience as a qualified social worker for vulnerable adults and children. Zebedee works with big brands like H&M, Marks & Spencer, Primark, River Island and Boden and this summer secured a client an advertising partnership with Gucci, which went on to become one of the brand’s most liked Instagram posts ever (with nearly a million likes.) Zebedee’s rapid growth and success has led to it being featured across media including BBC News, The Guardian and Vogue. This doesn’t lead to complacency though, and Laura still acknowledges that diversity in media has a long way to go. In her own words: “Companies want their campaigns to be diverse. They want them to be inclusive, to represent the population. But still, disabilities don’t show up on people's radars, which I think is more of a long-term, systemic problem.” [at the same time I do] believe that brands are finally starting to realise the value in including people with disabilities in their campaigns.”
MALLORIE DUNN
Mallorie Dunn is a NYC based Fashion Designer, Consultant, and Educator. After graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology and Pratt Institute she had many corporate design jobs before deciding to switch to a life of freelance work. Through the freedom a freelance schedule allows her – she was able to launch her customizable clothing line, SmartGlamour, which focuses on accessibility, inclusion, and ethics. As a teacher, designer, seamstress, and artist - she is constantly searching for new ways to express herself, better herself, and help others.
OLIA SYNYAKEVYCH
Olia Synyakevych is a Ukrainian product designer. Industrial Design studies, based on humanities, have influenced her understanding of human needs as a key inspiration for design. Olia is interested in creating products for close interaction with human body to enhance its’ physical possibilities as well as user's mental well-being.
Interested in prosthetics, in 2020 she has started Changeable project — aesthetic textile accessories, that allow to change prosthetic limb style easily. Changeable project was presented at online Dutch Design Week 2020. Earlier, in 2017, a 3D printed variable stiffness prosthetic socket concept, designed by Olia, was exhibited at Dubai Design Week.