Marie McLoughlin

Marie McLoughlin teaches Dress History at the University of Brighton. She trained initially as a fashion designer at St Martin’s School of Art and worked as a designer, particularly in knitwear and film costume, for many years. An MA at Winchester School of Art on wartime clothing restrictions was followed by a PhD at the University of Brighton.

Within Dress History teaching at the University of Brighton Marie teaches twentieth century and contemporary dress and has a particular affection for fellow St Martin’s alumni Galliano, McQueen and Chalayan. Most of her students are practice based students intending to become designers rather than historians.

Marie is particularly interested in the areas where fashion and art collide whether this is fashion illustration, textile design by artists or more recent conceptual work by designers like Hussein Chalayan, Julie Verhoeven and Anna-Nicole Ziesche. She agrees with Philip Treacy who said ‘fashion is not about clothing, it is more important than that’. This is why she particularly welcomes the inter-disciplinary approach to Dress History developed at the University of Brighton by Professor Lou Taylor where an examination of real garments (from the University of Brighton teaching collection) can complement social history and oral testimony.

Another area of special interest is the way government regulations can affect fashion; from wartime Utility regulations, post-war currency controls (effectively preventing the importation of Paris fashions), the Board of Trade’s encouragement of refugees from fascist Europe and the status of public sector design education.