Graduaded in Fashion Design at Academy of Fine Arts of Naples (2022). Graduated in Visual Arts and Fashion at IUAV University of Venice (2025), her MA thesis is placed within periodical studies analyzing Italian fashion magazines, through which she developed a solid methodological foundation in research proving her ability to produce original frameworks, handle large corpora of historical materials and primary sources, transforming them into new critical perspectives.
Her MA dissertation was selected for the Best Thesis Award 2025 by the Examination Committee.
Her academic background has allowed her to develop several skills, from theoretical and analytical thinking to a technical understanding of production processes and textiles, alongside a critical awareness of contemporary ethical and environmental issues.
She is currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) PhD candidate within the DECADOCS programme, a Joint Doctorate hosted by Universidade Lusófona in Lisbon and IUAV University of Venice (2026-2030). Her research project (IRP 2), entitled The “New Sublime”: A Reappraisal of Fashion’s Decay in the Era of Ecological Crisis rethinks ‘fashion’ through the lens of decadence, understood both as material culture and as a symbolic system, at a time when the sector is facing major challenges related to waste, material degradation, sustainability, and the cultural meaning of ageing objects.
The project explores decay from three interconnected and fluid perspectives – museological, productive, and anthropological – examining how garments are treated in museums and archives and the processes through which materials lose their original form to become something new, highlights the dual face of decadence, engaging with themes such as the relationship between the private and the collective, memory and identity.
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/giovanna-esposito-alaia-8249a02a0/
DECADOCS 