Alexandra Thelin Blackowski Contributes Chapter to Book on Storytelling in Luxury Fashion

Alexandra Thelin Blackowski, Web Content Manager for the College of Education and Human Services (CEHS), wrote a chapter in the book Storytelling in Luxury Fashion: Brands, Visual Cultures, and Technologies, edited by Dr. Amanda Sikarskie of the University of Michigan-Flint and published by Routledge.

Alexandra’s contribution is entitled, “Louboutin’s Red: Using Color to Connect France’s Past and Present.” French shoe designer Christian Louboutin uses the visual culture of his nation’s past in his contemporary designs. Louis XIV, King of France from 1643-1715, favored the color red as the dyestuffs to produce the color were expensive and limited to those who held power, making the red-heeled shoes worn by Louis XIV an aristocratic privilege. Louboutin’s red soles and their earlier counterparts are examples of how a single characteristic in footwear, such as color, symbolizes many aspects of a culture.

Alexandra researches fashion, popular culture, and art history as a PhD student in History & Culture at Drew University in Madison, NJ, in addition to her role within CEHS. In 2018, she received the Jim Liles Student Award from the Costume Society of America for her research on the connections between author Oscar Wilde and fashion designer Gabrielle Chanel.