Profile
Ben Barry (he/him) is Dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons School of Design and holds the Joseph and Gail Gromek Professorship in Fashion Business. An internationally recognized scholar, educator, and academic leader, his work advances equity and social transformation through fashion, design, and higher education.
Since joining Parsons in 2021, Barry has led strategic initiatives that have reshaped fashion education through commitments to access, disability justice, Indigenous resurgence, and social justice. Working collaboratively with faculty, staff, students, and community partners, he has helped advance a renewed vision for the School of Fashion, expand curricular offerings in areas such as Indigenous fashion, fat fashion, and accessible fashion, and strengthen pathways for historically excluded communities. In partnership with Sinéad Burke, he co-founded the Parsons Disabled Fashion Student Program, an initiative supporting Disabled students through recruitment, scholarships, mentorship, and community-building.
Barry's research explores social transformation in and through fashion, with particular attention to disability, gender, research methods, and inclusive fashion education. Drawing on social science, participatory, and practice-based methodologies, his scholarship examines how fashion can challenge systems of exclusion and generate new possibilities for belonging, creativity, and justice. He has authored more than thirty peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and edited multiple scholarly volumes, including Fashion Education: The Systemic Revolution and The Intellect Handbook of Men's Fashion. His forthcoming book, Crip Fashion, explores how Disabled people transform fashion through everyday dressing practices, design, and collective world-making.
Barry's research program has attracted more than $27 million in external funding through roles as principal investigator, co-principal investigator, co-investigator, and collaborator. Current projects include Pathways for Disabled Designers, which advances disability inclusion across fashion education and industry, and Enclothed Knowledges, an international network exploring practice-based research in fashion. His research has been published in journals including Fashion Theory, Gender & Society, and International Journal of Fashion Studies, as well as public-facing outlets including Harvard Business Review and Business of Fashion.
Barry's scholarship and leadership have been recognized through honours including the Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards Change Maker Award, Vogue Business' inaugural 100 Innovators list, and Glossy's 50 Changemakers. He holds a BA in Women's Studies from the University of Toronto and an MPhil and PhD from the University of Cambridge's Judge Business School.
Degrees Held
BA Women's and Gender Studies, University of Toronto
MPhil Innovation, Strategy and Organization, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge
PhD Management, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge
Recent Publications
Barry, B., Blanco F., J., & Reilly, A. (Eds.). (2026). The Intellect Handbook of Men's Fashion. Bristol: Intellect Books.
Barry, B. (2025). Crip Fashion Networks: Dress Exchanges, Hacks and Affirmations in Disability Communities. International Journal of Fashion Studies, 12(2), 163–179.
Barry, B. (2025). How to Dress Well. In Natalie Kane (Ed.), Design & Disability: 10 Tales of Accessible Design (pp. 110–119). London: V&A Publishing.
Barry, B., Nesbitt, P., & Strickfaden, M. (2024). Multi-Sensory Methods: Toward a Crip Methodology in Fashion Studies. International Journal of Fashion Studies, 11(1), 81–109.
Barry, B., & Mathews David, A. (2023). A Fashion Studies Manifesto: Towards an (Inter)disciplinary Field. Fashion Studies, 1(1), 1–22.
Research Interests
Disability and fashion; inclusive and accessible fashion design; fashion education; practice-based research; dress and embodiment; gender and sexuality.