Faculty

Fiona Dieffenbacher is an Associate Professor of Fashion in the School of Fashion at Parsons School of Design. Her research is located at the intersection of dress, embodiment and spirituality. Key projects include: Dress and Emotion, which explored the emotional and sensory act of dressing; The En[...]Clothed Collective, a global group of practitioners whose research centers bodily knowledge in the articulation of theory.

Published works include a second edition of her textbook Fashion Thinking: Creative Approaches to the Design Process, (Bloomsbury, 2020) and chapter entitled, ‘The Future Body as Ultimate Dress’ in: Silhouettes of the Soul: Meditations on Fashion, Religion and Subjectivity (Bloomsbury, 2023) co-edited by Otto von Busch and Jeannine Viau.

She is the volume editor of the forthcoming publication: Teaching Fashion Ethics: Inclusivity, Social Justice and Activism (Bloomsbury, 2027) and editor of Fashion Practice: The Journal of Design, Creative Process and the Fashion Industry.

In 2023, Fiona launched a public program in collaboration with colleagues at Parsons and Eugene Lang entitled: Fashion-Faith: Rituals and Dialogues. This informed the premise for the forthcoming exhibition and symposium by the same name in the Arnold and Sheila Aronson Gallery at Parsons in February 2026.

Prior to Parsons, Fiona designed her eponymous ready-to-wear label Fiona Walker with a commitment to ethical and local production (1998- 2005). Selling to select retailers across the U.S and Asia, the collection garnered press in publications such as WWD, The New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle and New York Magazine, among others.

MA Fashion Studies, Parsons School of Design

BFA Fashion Design, Parsons School of Design

BA Hons Fashion and Textiles, University of Ulster 

Teaching Fashion Ethics: Inclusivity, Social Justice and Activism, Bloomsbury, 2027

This forthcoming edited volume attempts to dismantle preconceived notions about what fashion design is and who we are designing with and for, as well as offering a critique of the existing fashion system itself. Two key questions frame this book: “What does it mean to be a fashion designer in the twenty-first century in this moment in history?” And “How can we equip fashion design students with the tools to transform the industry and inspire them to create a vision of what it ought to become?”

It bridges theory and practice via a range of methodologies with the goal of encouraging fashion design students to situate their work within the context of fashion theory; to develop critical thinking and generate progressive outcomes that challenge the status quo. Based on the underlying premise that all design needs to be inclusive, 40 case studies from a diverse pool of leading academics and practitioners in the field aim to inspire students to think critically about their responsibility and  the impact they can make; not only within the design process itself, but in the industry, we hope to change.

"The Future Body as Ultimate Dress" in: Silhouettes of the Soul: Meditations on Fashion, Religion, and Subjectivity edited by Otto von Busch and Jeanine Viau, Bloomsbury, 2023

What is the relationship between the soul, or inner life, and what we wear in the making of identity and belief? What bearing do religious and political belonging, respectability, and resistance have on the way in which we dress? Why have more traditional religious practices been so prescriptive about body adornment? Historically, fashionable dress and religion have been positioned as polar opposites. Silhouettes of the Soul brings them together, placing them in conversation with each other. By moving beyond traditional, social scientific, and historical analysis of religious attire and adornment the book presents a variety of disciplinary approaches from across regional, social, and religious locations.

Contentious and challenging, as well as academically rigorous, the book's diverse range of contributors - from fashion and religious studies scholars, to designers, activists, monastics, and journalists - explore the relationship between religion and fashion, extending the meanings and possibilities of both dress and spirituality. Combining interviews and personal stories with more traditional theoretical analysis,  Silhouettes of the Soul offers new ways of looking at the relationship between religion, personal convictions, and self-expression - our sense of self and our sense of fashion.

"Fashion Thinking: Creative Approaches to the Design Process," Second Edition, Bloomsbury, 2020 

Fashion's great innovations often spring from inspired designers developing unique concepts and challenging the status quo. But how do they do it? To find out, follow ten exceptional fashion design students as they respond to a brief, exploring their diverse strategies and the thinking behind their final collections. This second edition features six new interviews, with insight from the director of Open Style Lab, Grace Jun, and Yeohlee Teng, whose designs have earned a permanent place in the Costume Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Four new case studies, incorporate new technology including adaptive design for the visually impaired and the use of augmented reality. Beautifully illustrated and structured to clearly demonstrate how to take ideas from concept to design, Fashion Thinking demystifies the creative thinking process to help you develop your own unique collection.