Laine Weber Callahan
Exhibition Designer, Protest/Activism
Laine is a second-year Master's candidate in NYU's Costume Studies program. Prior to NYU, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art from Stetson University, in 2017. After Stetson, Laine spent time as a Graduate candidate in the Accessory Design program at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Honing her design skills at SCAD, she was able to immerse herself in the exploration of accessory design through individualized processes and material manipulation. Laine originally came to New York in the summer of 2018, as a finalist in the Independent Handbag Designer Awards. She began her professional career painting and distressing costumes for Broadway and off-Broadway shows including, Once on this Island, The Wiz, and Oliver. Most recently, she worked within the archive at the Ralph Lauren Library, under the direction of Allison Johnson. In fashion studies, her research focus is the intersection of costume design, gender, and psychology, and their dual-directional relationship with dress. Laine is overjoyed to work on this special exhibition, with her co-curators and creative friends.
Juliana Cirillo
Exhibition Designer, Homewear/Homemade
Juliana is a second-year student of the NYU Costume Studies program. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Fashion Design at Mount Ida College in 2012. Most recently, she worked as an Associate Designer of suits and sportcoats at Tailored Brands, where she gained valuable knowledge of clothing construction and garment life cycle. Juliana has had a lifetime love of fashion theory and history that inspired her to enroll in the Costume Studies Program. She is very thankful to have worked with an amazing team of co-curators on this exhibition.
Mary Kate Farley
Design Production Manager, Christian Siriano: Fashion's Response
Mary Kate Farley is a second-year Master’s candidate with NYU’s Costume Studies program. Prior to joining the program, she graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Art History, focusing on Modern and Contemporary art. Between pursuing degrees, Mary Kate began her professional career in luxury vintage, holding various positions within the auction and retail industries, including vintage retail pioneer What Goes Around Comes Around. It was through these experiences that she cultivated a deep appreciation for connoisseurship and refined her love of telling stories through dress. Most recently, Mary Kate holds a curatorial internship with the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Avidly passionate about twentieth-century fashion, her research interests typically center around its intersections with fine art and film. It is with immense gratitude that Mary Kate shares this unique opportunity with her co-curators to analyze fashion filtered through this transformative year.
Tessa Ina Laney
Editor, Christian Siriano: Fashion's Response
Tessa Laney is in her third and final year as a part-time graduate student in NYU’s Costume Studies Program. She is currently Director of Special Projects and Head of British & European Furniture & Decorative Arts at Freeman’s, America’s oldest auction house, headquartered in Philadelphia, and has held past positions at museums in both Philadelphia and Atlanta. She holds a certificate in Curating Fashion & Dress from the Victoria & Albert Museum and an MA in the History & Culture of Paris from the University of London Institute in Paris, where her dissertation focused on proto-first wave feminism in Third Republic French fashion. Tessa received her bachelor’s degree in Art History and Political Science from Emory University, which she attended on a full academic scholarship as part of the Emory Scholars Program. Tessa’s research considers structural and medical prescriptions of beauty and the role of appearance in intellectual self-actualization for women in the late 19th century. Her work has been presented at conferences both nationally and internationally.
Emily Mushaben
Registrar, Christian Siriano: Fashion's Response
Emily is a second-year Master’s candidate in NYU’s Costume Studies program. Before joining the program, she graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Design Studies and a minor in Fashion. While an undergraduate, Emily completed a curatorial internship at the Phoenix Art Museum, where she assisted the museum’s previous Curator of Fashion, Dennita Sewell, with research and maintained an organized archive of previous fashion exhibitions. With a keen interest in fashion theory and how sustainability practices have been incorporated into fashion design, Emily’s research examines the relationship between the haute couture industry and recent calls for luxury brands to reduce textile waste. Emily looks forward to beginning an internship with the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the spring of 2021.
Stephanie Ray
Editor, Protest/Activism
Stephanie is a second-year student with NYU’s Costume Studies program. Before entering the program, she graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in history and a certificate of British and Irish studies. Following graduation from UGA, Stephanie worked within a variety of libraries, where she honed her passion for creating accessible, entertaining educational opportunities for the public. She has previously presented her paper, Morality, Mortality, and Muslin: Dancing with Death in Second Empire Evening Gowns, with the Costume Society of America, which explored a nineteenth-century association of fashion and illness. While her research typically focuses on early histories, she is beyond thrilled to work with her co-curators in creating a fashion history touchstone for future generations studying this dynamic year.
Shelby Ivey Christie
Communications Officer, Homewear/Homemade
Shelby is a 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30: Art & Style honoree. Shelby is an ardent Fashion & Costume Historian, with a passion for articulating how Black history intersects and affects the cultural climate, economics, and most importantly fashion. A former alum of Vogue, Shelby’s expertise has frequently been called upon by brands and publishers, to examine fashion through the lens of race, class & culture. Within the social media landscape, Shelby has a unique ability to leverage her social platforms into a means for curating important conversations around fashion and culture. Alongside her full-time career, Shelby is currently in her second year in the Master of Arts, Costume Studies program at NYU. Shelby earned her Bachelors of Arts; Race, Class & Culture from NC A&T SU in 2015.
Merve “Mimi” Eltemur
Graphic Designer, Protest/Activism
Mimi is in her final year as a Master’s candidate in NYU’s Costume Studies program. Prior to the program, she received her Bachelor of Arts in Visual Storytelling from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, with a focus on Contemporary Art, Photography and Documentary Filmmaking. Following her undergraduate studies, Mimi began her career in the fashion industry, working first as a stylist before moving on to film and TV projects as an assistant costume designer. Passionate about research, her area of interests within the field of Costume Studies are fashion’s intersection with film and music in the twentieth century. Currently, Mimi is a wardrobe intern for HBO’s new mini-series ’Scenes From a Marriage’, while also working on her master’s thesis which will explore how Tiffany designer Elsa Peretti revolutionized the way modern women adorn themselves.
Emily Elizabeth Lance
Educational Coordinator, Christian Siriano: Fashion's Response
Emily Elizabeth Lance is in her final year as a Master’s candidate in NYU’s Costume Studies program. She received her Bachelor of Arts in History from The University of Scranton in 2016. Splitting her time between Scranton and New York City, Emily works at the Scranton Public Library, where she has gained valuable experience as an event coordinator and author liaison, while also being a teaching assistant at NYU as she pursues her Master’s degree. Emily’s research focuses on late-nineteenth and twentieth century fashion, with her Master’s thesis examining linen as a material of luxury during the 1980s.
Anna Marie Tendler
Digital Media Manager, Homewear/Homemade
Anna is an artist and second-year Master’s candidate in NYU’s Costume Studies program. She began her professional career as a hairstylist and makeup artist, working on everything from fashion magazines, including Paper, Nylon, and Men’s Italian Vogue, to Broadway shows, including Oh Hello on Broadway and Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. Anna is the author of two beauty books The Daily Face and Pin It!, published by Chronicle Books. In 2016, Anna founded Silk Parlor, an art studio that specializes in handmade bespoke Victorian lampshades, embroidery, weaving, fine art, and photography. In the field of fashion studies, Anna’s research is primarily focused on the intersection of clothing, beauty and the female identity. Though passionate about research, Anna also loves the hands-on aspects of fashion studies; she spent 2019-2020 learning and working under textile conservator, Julia Brennan.
Leia Pellot
Project Manager, Homewear/Homemade
Leia is in her final year as a Master’s candidate in NYU’s Costume Studies program. She is a recent recipient of a Master’s Degree of Science in Library Information Science from LIU Palmer, during her participation in the collaborative Dual Degree program with NYU. Leia began her professional career as a fiber artist, creating custom knit and crocheted pieces for boutiques and film. She recently became a middle school Teaching Artist for an after school program in the South Bronx and is passionate about expanding the platform for people of color to express themselves creatively. She finds fashion history and its sociological influence endlessly fascinating. In her work she hopes to pursue projects that will allow her to reach out to different communities and wants to develop educational tools that are both innovative and accessible.
Victoria Sperotto
Project Manager, Homewear/Homemade
Victoria Sperotto is a second-year Master’s candidate in NYU’s Costume Studies program. Prior to the program, she graduated with honors from Istituto Marangoni London with a degree in Fashion Design, and showcased her graduate collection in Vancouver Fashion Week in 2017. While still in London, Victoria worked in a variety of positions within the fashion industry from PR to pattern cutting rooms. After the practical experience in the fashion industry, she chose to follow a long-time passion for history and to dedicate her professional life to develop education through the field of fashion history. Due to her international background, Victoria’s research interests lie in exploring world cultures, with the example of her final thesis based on fashion from her home country of Brazil.