Freud and Fashion

Join Valerie Steele for an in-depth look at the impact of Dr. Sigmund Freud on the world of fashion.

Although dress and fashion appear only occasionally in the collected works of Sigmund Freud, his private letters reveal that he spent a great deal of time and money on well-tailored, Englishstyle suits. Freud’s personal appearance has also had an impact on the popular image of the psychoanalyst. His theories of sexuality and the unconscious have influenced artists and fashion designers such as Salvador Dali, Elsa Schiaparelli, and more recently John Galliano, whose “Freud or Fetish” collection is replete with polymorphous perversity.

Steele is Director and Chief Curator of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she has organized more than 25 exhibitions since 1997, including The Corset: Fashioning the Body, Gothic: Dark Glamour, A Queer History of Fashion, and Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color. She is also founder and editor in chief of Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, and is the author or coauthor of more than two dozen books, including Paris Fashion: A Cultural History; Women of Fashion; Fetish: Fashion, Sex and Power; and Fashion Designers A-Z: The Collection of The Museum at FIT.

Freudian Fashion is highly encouraged!

This is an in-person event. Your health and safety are our top priorities and we are following all CDC and guidance. All guests must have received a COVID-19 vaccine. Proof of vaccine (CDC card or photo, , , or other digital record) as well as a photo ID will be required. Masks are also required.

RSVP does not guarantee entry. Doors open to the public 15 minutes before the event. Please arrive early to check in.

Our coat check is limited. Please do not bring any large bags or backpacks.

Event Venue

The National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York, United States