Mill Talk: “Denim Culture: Past Present & Future”
and Screening: “Riveted: The History of Jeans” from PBS’s American Experience
(6:00 PM Screening, 7:00 PM Discussion)
presented by: Professor Emma McClendon, St. John’s University
FREE to the Public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Join us for a fascinating discussion on the past, present, and future of a ubiquitous fabric – denim. The Charles River Museum is at the site of Francis Cabot Lowell’s first cotton textile mill, and it was cotton manufacturing that powered the Industrial Revolution. Now, jeans are the iconic American fashion staple that almost all of us own. Fashion history professor, curator, and author Emma McClendon will join us as we screen the acclaimed PBS documentary, “Riveted: The History of Jeans.” The production features McClendon and other experts tracing the history and culture of jeans, and their place in American’s self-image.
Then, Emma McClendon will engage in an interactive discussion about where she sees the future of jeans as a fashion item, utilitarian garment, and manufactured product. She has a special interest in the sustainability of denim production, and the ways in which jeans have become not just clothing, but a way of expressing individuality and identity. This is sure to be a thought-provoking conversation around an article of clothing that, at any given moment, literally half of the planet’s population is wearing.
Speaker Bio: Emma McClendon, St. John’s University
Emma McClendon is Assistant Professor of Fashion Studies at St. John’s University in New York and author of Denim: Fashion’s Frontier (2016). While Associate Curator at The Museum at FIT from 2011-2020, she curated numerous critically acclaimed fashion history exhibitions including “Power Mode: The Force of Fashion” (2019), “The Body: Fashion and Physique” (2017) and “Denim: Fashion’s Frontier” (2015). She holds an MA Hons. in Art History from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and an MA in the History of Dress from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.
She is currently completing her PhD at the Bard Graduate Center for decorative arts, design history, and material culture in New York City. Her research focuses on the power dynamics inherent in clothing with a particular interest in body politics, labor, technology, and standardized sizing. Recent publications include Power Mode: The Force of Fashion (Skira, 2019) and the forthcoming (Re)Dressing American Fashion: Wear as Witness (Yale, March 2025).
Links:
Denim: Fashion's Frontier (2016) Yale University Press
(Re)Dressing American Fashion: Wear as Witness | Yale University Press
Online Exhibition: Denim: Fashion's Frontier
Emma McClendon, St. John’s University – Jeans: Universal and Unsustainable
The Washington Post: Denim is getting weird again
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
