Intern Selina Cooper

Intern Selina Cooper is a recent graduate of Howard University with a MA in Art History. Her research interest in costume studies explores the intersection between cultural aesthetics and its appropriation in modern haute couture. This is evident in her MA research that re-interpreted and challenged the implementation of the ancient Egyptian-inspired thematic concept for the Christian Dior Spring 2004 Haute Couture Collection.

Selina’s additional research interests include near Eastern art, Egyptomania, artifact repatriation, espionage history, and blaxploitation film studies. The interest in these areas of research were cultivated inside the walls of various cultural institutions and publication offices such as: The Textile Museum; International Spy Museum; the NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) Department of the National Park Service; Suede Magazine (folded); and Shop Etc. Magazine (folded). She has also studied abroad in Egypt.

Selina also holds a BA in Art History from the University of Maryland College Park and an AAS in Illustration from the Fashion Institute of Technology. She presently works freelance as a graphic designer and as a French translator for Fashiz’Black Magazine, a France-based publication. Her future research plan is to expound on her graduate research and examine John Galliano’s design history during his tenure at Christian Dior in which he pulled from various cultures, subcultures and time periods for inspiration.

Selina currently resides in the Washington D.C. area.