Sara Idacavage

Sara Idacavage is a fashion historian with a background in journalism and passion for sustainability. She holds a master’s degree in Fashion Studies from Parsons School of Design and a bachelor’s degree in Fashion Merchandising from the University of Georgia, where she also completed her Ph.D. in Polymer, Fiber, and Textile Sciences with an emphasis in International Merchandising. Idacavage’s research employs sustainability as a lens to delve into the historical foundations of the fashion system and contextualize contemporary challenges within a broader historical framework. In addition to historical and cultural scholarship, her research focuses on transforming fashion education, underpinned by a deep commitment to improving students’ mental health and empowering them to be agents of change.

Idacavage has 10 years of combined experience teaching graduate and undergraduate courses on fashion history, theory, textiles, and research methods at Parsons School of Design, the Pratt Institute, the Fashion Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia. In 2023, she piloted UGA’s first course specifically focused on fashion and sustainability, which encouraged students to develop a more complex understanding of the concept of “sustainable fashion” while learning practical skills to work towards a more collective and just fashion system. 

Outside of the classroom, Idacavage enjoys being a public-facing academic, continually striving to make history and theory more accessible to a wider audience through public lectures and frequent media commentary for publications like the Wall Street Journal, The Cut and HuffPost. She has also shared her love of fashion through podcasts, a series of lecture tours across China, several appearances on the Travel Channel program Mysteries at the Museum and on video for Condé Nast Entertainment.

In addition to serving as an Associate Editor of The Fashion Studies Journal since 2016, Idacavage wrote a column for Fashionista titled Fashion History Lessons, and was a regular contributor to Refinery29, NYMag.com and Time Out New York for years. She has also contributed numerous articles to the Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, as well as peer-reviewed academic journals that include Fashion Theory, Winterthur Portfolio, Art Libraries Journal and Fashion, Style & Popular Culture.

Idacavage has worked in archives and museums that include the Parsons Fashion Study Collection, the Ralph Lauren Library, the Museum of the City of New York and the Georgia Museum of Art. While completing her doctoral degree, she curated an exhibition with the University of Georgia’s Special Collections Libraries titled From Farms to Fast Fashion: Tracing the History of a Fashion Revolution (opening January 2025), which tells the story of how clothing became cheaper, faster to make and easier to care for while uncovering who ultimately pays the cost for these conveniences.