Dr. Mark Joseph O’Connell is a professor of Fashion Studies in the School of Fashion. He holds a PhD in communication and culture, a joint program between Toronto Metropolitan University and York University, and completed his dissertation entitled Mors Naviculam: The Globalization of Canadian Fashion Through Trade, Policy and Regulation. He also has a master of arts in fashion from Toronto Metropolitan University and a bachelor of arts in material art and design from OCAD University.
Dr. O’Connell’s research explores the potential for social justice reforms in transnational fashion production and supply chains, both from higher education and within public policy perspectives. He has completed research residencies at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.
A prolific author, Dr. O’Connell’s articles have been published in many peer-reviewed academic journals, including Fashion Theory, Textile: The Journal of Cloth and Culture, The International Journal of Fashion Studies, Queer Studies in Media & Popular Culture, Fashion Studies and Fashion, Style & Popular Culture.
His research into the globalization of Indigenous weaving in Oaxaca Mexico was published in the International Journal of Fashion Studies in the article Traditional Weaving Cultures in a Global Market: The Case of Zapotec Weavers (2021). His research into fashion redesign and reuse by Eileen Fisher was published in Textile the Journal of Cloth & Culture in the article Lux Perpetua: Future Pioneers Utilizing Historical Precedent as Design Innovation within Fashion (2019) and his research into fashion redesign and reuse by the Cuban brand Clandestina “Y Sin Embargo Te Quiero” (And Yet, I Love You): An Ethnographic Study of Economic Policy and Colonial Hegemonies Encoded in the Recommodification of Used Garments (2021) was also published in Textile.
Dr. O’Connell is an editorial board member of the In Pursuit of Luxury Journal and a member of the Union of Concerned Researchers in Fashion. He regularly presents his research at conferences internationally.