Faculty

Carolina Obregón is an assistant professor at Parsons School of Design, where she teaches across the BFA School of Fashion and the MPS, and currently teaches and serves as Course Coordinator for Sustainable Systems in the First Year. Her teaching and research focus on biodesign, sustainable fashion systems, systems-led design education, and circular economy frameworks, aligning Parsons mission to advance socially engaged, interdisciplinary, and future-oriented design practices that address complex social, environmental, and economic challenges. She holds an MA in Fashion and Creative Sustainability from Aalto University in Finland and an AAS in Fashion Studies from Parsons School of Design.

In 2014, she designed and implemented the first undergraduate program in Sustainable Fashion and Management in Latin America at Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano in Bogotá and later served as Assistant Professor at Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá), where her research focused on biodesign, bionanotechnology, biofashion, sustainable fashion, and circular economy frameworks. Under her academic leadership, student teams won the Biodesign Challenge in New York three times with Woocoa in 2018, NanoFreeze in 2019, and Linneo in 2020. She is part of the startups NanoFreeze and E.biodye.

2012   M.A. (Art and Design), Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Helsinki

2009    Bilingual Education Certification, Colombo-American Institute, Bogotá

1995    A.A.S. (Fashion), Fashion Studies, Parsons School of Design, New York

1992    B.A. equivalent, Fashion Design, Taller Cinco Centro de Diseño, Bogotá

Obregón, C., Daniés, G., Ojeda-Ramírez, S., & Burbano, A. (2025) Biodesign and Plant Sciences: Evolving STEAM Pedagogies in Higher Education. Quantitative Plant Biology, Cambridge University Press.

Obregón, C., Danies, G. (2025). Biodesign in Colombia: Turning Fashion Adversity into Innovation Amidst Socioeconomic Challenge. Fashion Highlight, Firenze University Press Journal.

Patent Pending (2025): Nanostructuring of Natural Fibers with Iron Nanoparticles, Co-Inventor. Bogotá, Colombia.  

Patent Pending (2025): Nanostructuring of Natural Fibers with Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles, Co-Inventor. Bogotá, Colombia.  

Patent Pending (2024): Process to Produce Natural Fibers Functionalized with Silver Nanoparticles and Obtained Fibers, Co-Inventor. Bogotá, Colombia.  

Obregón, C., & Danies, G. (2024). Colombia’s Fashion Revolution: Embracing Sustainability and Biodiversity ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America. Harvard University, Cambridge.

Obregón, C., Danies, G. (2024). Weaving Sustainability: A planetary perspective on fibers in fashion. Fashion Highlight, Florence, Italy.

Obregón, C., et. Al. (2023). Preparation, Extraction, and Processing of Water-Retted Cannabis sativa L. Fibers, Journal of Natural Fibers, Taylor & Francis.

Obregón, C., & Danies, G. (2023). BioFashion BFA Undergraduate Design Course at Universidad de los Andes. Fashion Studies Journal, Transformative Fashion Pedagogies. New York, NY.                   

Bio-nanocompound as an Agent for Nucleating Aqueous-based Compounds and Production Method Thereof, Patented, 2021 PCT/IB2021/053817. Co-Inventor. Bogotá, Colombia.