Francesca Sterlacci - Historical Dictionary of the Fashion Industry

Francesca Sterlacci is an accomplished fashion designer, author, and teacher.

In 1979, Ms. Sterlacci founded and operated Francesca Sterlacci LTD, a better womens clothing company that sold to numerous major department and specialty stores throughout the United States for more than 10 years. In addition to frequent media coverage and multiple Womens Wear Daily and magazine covers during this time, Ms. Sterlacci won the North American Fur Association Contest and was nominated for Fashion Group Internationals Rising Star and the More Fashion Awards.

Ms. Sterlacci taught and served as chair (19902007) of the Fashion Design Department at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), where she created multiple certificate programs in leather apparel, haute couture, and outerwear and performance apparel, was the lead initiator of their AAS and BFA curriculum revision and conceived of and obtained funding for the schools first Leather Design lab and Stoll Knit Lab. She expanded FITs international programs in Italy, the Philippines, China, and Turkey and initiated a regular series of seminars that connected the FIT community with other leading international design schools in Korea, India, Japan, Taiwan, and Belgium.

An early pioneer of online learning, Ms. Sterlacci taught fashion design courses for six years, both online and on-site, in the graduate program at the Academy of Art University, San Francisco.

Ms. Sterlacci has been quoted extensively in magazines, periodicals, and journal articles, as well as on radio and television. She is the author or coauthor of multiple editions of fashion books such as Leather Fashion Design, the Encyclopedia of Clothing & Fashion, and You Can Do It! The Merit Badge Handbook for Women and a three-volume book series on draping, patternmaking, and sewing, to be released in 2018.

In 2008, Ms. Sterlacci founded the University of Fashion (Universityof-Fashion.com), the first and largest online fashion design library in the world, providing hundreds of well-produced, fashion design and business video lessons and lectures, available by subscription to students, libraries, fashion clubs, fashion companies, and fashion professionals all over the world. All of the University of Fashions lessons are taught by experienced, professional designers and fashion college professors. In 2015, Ms. Sterlacci initiated the countrys first Fashion Makerspace, in partnership with Brother International sewing machines and Alvanon dress forms, for the Westchester Library System in New York.

Ms. Sterlacci earned her AAS degree in fashion design from the Fashion Institute of Technology, her BA from New Jersey City University, and her masters in education (MSED) from Baruch College in New York.

Joanne Arbuckle is dean of the Fashion Institute of Technologys School of Art and Design. With 12 departments and 17 design majors, it is the largest of FITs schools. Dean Arbuckle has served as the visionary for the school for over a decade.

Dean Arbuckle joined FIT in 1994 as a full-time faculty member in the fashion design department. Courses she taught include childrenswear, body contour, concepts in fashion planning, and creative interpretation. In 2003, she was awarded the State University of New York Chancellors Award for Excellence in Teaching.

As assistant department chair for six years, she played a lead role in the revision of the AAS and BFA programs. She initiated the schools first teaching criteria policy. At the request of the graduate studies dean, she served on the development committee of FITs first international MPS program in global fashion management. She has also served as acting dean of the School of Graduate Studies at FIT.

Dean Arbuckle has been a visiting scholar, workshop leader, and expert presenter in the area of design thinking and its role in business. She came to FIT as an industry professional with over 30 years of experience as a designer and design director. For nearly a decade, she served as president of the design consulting firm Design Integrity. For seven years she was on the nominating committee for the Ernie Awards in childrenswear.

She has been a consultant and expert witness for law firms on matters concerning childrenswear flammability, customs issues relating to design categories, and licensing issues.

She serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. She is actively engaged as a national and international visiting accreditation evaluator for the association.

Dean Arbuckle holds an MS in education administration in higher education from New York University, a BS in fashion design from the State University of New York, and an AAS in fashion design from FIT.

Quoted extensively in the media, Dean Arbuckle has addressed topics pertaining to art and design in higher education and the relationship between fashion and historical events, specifically as they relate to childrenswear and intimate apparel.

The historical dictionaries present essential information on a broad range of subjects, including American and world history, art, business, cities, countries, cultures, customs, film, global conflicts, international relations, literature, music, philosophy, religion, sports, and theater. Written by experts, all contain highly informative introductory essays on the topic and detailed chronologies that, in some cases, cover vast historical time periods but still manage to heavily feature more recent events.

Brief AZ entries describe the main people, events, politics, social issues, institutions, and policies that make the topic unique, and entries are cross-referenced for ease of browsing. Extensive bibliographies are divided into several general subject areas, providing excellent access points for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more. Additionally, maps, photographs, and appendixes of supplemental information aid high school and college students doing term papers or introductory research projects. In short, the historical dictionaries are the perfect starting point for anyone looking to research in these fields.

Jon Woronoff, Series Editor

Petroleum Industry, by M. S. Vassiliou, 2009.

Journalism, by Ross Eaman, 2009.

U.S. Maritime Industry, by Kenneth J. Blume, 2012.

Librarianship, by Mary Ellen Quinn, 2014.

Japanese Business, Second Edition, by Stuart D. B. Picken, 2016.

Fashion Industry, Second Edition, by Francesca Sterlacci and Joanne Arbuckle, 2017.

Published by Rowman & Littlefield

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Copyright 2017 by Francesca Sterlacci and Joanne Arbuckle

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Sterlacci, Francesca, author. | Arbuckle, Joanne, 1954 author.

Title: Historical dictionary of the fashion industry / Francesca Sterlacci and Joanne Arbuckle.

Description: Second edition. | Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2017. | Series: Historical dictionaries of professions and industries | Includes bibliographical references.