Paula von Wachenfeldt

Paula von Wachenfeldt, Senior Lecturer and Head of Studies at the Centre for Fashion Studies, holds a PhD in French literature. She teaches at basic and advanced level and supervises Master and PhD students. In her reserach she has examined the interface between fiction and cultural interpretations of fashion. As from 2012, her research focus is on luxury and she has co-edited the first anthology on Swedish luxury history The Swedish Desire. Centuries of Luxury Consumption (2015). Her publications in the luxury field examine both historical and contemporary debates and representations.

My research interests revolve around the cultural expression of materiality and luxury culture and consumption. In my publications I have addressed the debate on luxury, its representations in media as well as the role of social media in the creation of the self. These issues have been examined from a historical perspective as well as a contemporary one. Lately I have been investigating the presence of the myth behind many luxury fashion brands and its evolution in post-modern time. My research takes into consideration the socio-cultural dynamics that reside in the phenomenon of fashion through time. In the same vein I have studied the medation of luxury fashion and lifestyle in digital media and contemporary self-branding in the new instant technology.