FASHION HISTORIAN | STYLING | ART DIRECTION
FILM
FASHION
RESEARCH
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INFO
CV
Ariel Bleakley is a fashion historian, arts professional, and creative practitioner working at the intersection of fashion, textile history, and visual storytelling for contemporary audiences. She holds an M.A. in Costume Studies from NYU Steinhardt, where her thesis — Reimagining Australiana: Jenny Kee, Linda Jackson, and the Emergence of an Australian Fashion Language, 1973–1988 — was selected for presentation at the 25th Annual Richard Martin Symposium, and a B.A. in Art History and Human Rights with a concentration in Gender Studies from Bard College.
Her current research centers on the construction of the femme fatale in late nineteenth-century Gothic literature and visual culture, and the translation of these literary archetypes into early twentieth-century design — tracing how fin-de-siècle anxieties around femininity, modernity, and sexuality influenced the material and aesthetic language of dress. This interest extends to the broader flourishing of early-twentieth-century decorative arts, particularly the Wiener Werkstätte, in which the synthesis of fine art, craft, costume, and object design remains central. Ariel has documented and handled fine art, antiquities, and historic material objects across private, archival, museum, and gallery settings, developing cataloging workflows, gaining familiarity with collections management systems, including Artlogic, and contributing to curatorial planning, research, and interpretive writing for exhibition projects at NYU’s 80WSE Gallery.
In parallel, Ariel maintains an active practice as a fashion stylist and art director. As Creative Operations Manager at Lisa Black Jewellery, she leads campaign production and creative direction, informed by historical research into global adornment traditions and rare antiquities. In conjunction, her film work has centered on costume as a vehicle for narrative and character development, bringing the same scholarly attentiveness to period accuracy and material meaning that defines her academic pursuits.
Currently based in New York.
CONTACT
e: arielbeakley@gmail.com
New York + Melbourne, Australia