Elizabeth Castaldo Lundén

I am a lecturer in the film and media sections of the Department of Media Studies. I hold a doctoral degree in Fashion Studies from Stockholm University, a Master of Arts in Cinema Studies from the same institution, and a Lic. degree in Public Relations from Universidad Argentina de la Empresa (Licenciada en Relaciones Públicas). Aside from my scholarly career, I worked as a PR officer in the entertainment and retail industries for over a decade.

I have presented my research in international conferences, published articles and guest-edited special issues in several academic journals. I am a founding member and communication director of the Libraries and Archives Scholarly Interest Group at SCMS - Society for Cinema and Media Studies. I was a visiting researcher at the School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California in 2015. In 2014, I discovered costume designer Jacques Fonteray´s private archive, and worked with Fonteray's family to donate the material in order to preserve his cultural legacy. Part of this collection is now available at the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

My research addresses the interrelationship between Hollywood and the fashion industry from a historical perspective. I focus on the global circulation of cultural and economic capital, and how this propelled the international fashion system through Hollywood's intermedial reach. I am particularly interested in the study of media discourses originating in public relations, advertising, and other communication practices to understand how ideas travel into popular culture manifesting in social and cultural phenomena. My work is heavily driven by archival research. The transdisciplinary nature of my work integrates fashion, film, and media history.
My doctoral dissertation consisted of a historical study of the Academy Awards ceremony and its red-carpet pre-show. The study traced the liaison between Hollywood and fashion institutions, understanding how public relations campaigns and the media articulated fashion discourses around the Oscars leading to the institutionalization of the red-carpet as a fashion event in its own right. I am also involved in projects that address issues of material culture, archival access, and the digital humanities.

My scholarly interests include: Hollywood history, celebrity culture, Americana, globalization and mass media. American fashion and costume design history. Public relations, advertising and marketing pratices within the culture industries. Critical inquiry, cultural history, and archival research. Experience-based learning, complex thought and transdisciplinarity. Epiphenomenality.

I am currently working on a book about the Academy Awards red-carpet phenomenon for Edinburgh University Press, and writing several contribution for the Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Costume Design.