Elisa Palomino, Ph.D.

Working at the intersection of anthropology, education and sustainable fashion, Elisa Palomino has conducted research on Indigenous knowledge, participatory design, ethics, and heritage. She has devoted much of her academic career to the relationship between human beings and other biological organisms in traditional societies, especially in precontact Arctic and Subarctic areas, studying ethnobiology, and fashion anthropology. Her research documenting ancient textile crafts, with a particular emphasis on leathers and production techniques, spans historical periods such as the Postcolonial Arctic, Early Modern Italy and Spain, and the Ancient Near East.

Elisa has successfully led EU-funded projects, including Horizon 2020's FishSkin, and earned fellowships such as Fulbright, Kluge Fellowship at the Library of Congress, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Fondazione Cini, Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, Max-Planck Institute, ANAMED. Currently a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, she specialises in Arctic Indigenous Fashion.

Elisa holds 25-year experience designing for luxury fashion brands including John Galliano and Christian Dior. With a PhD in Anthropology and Sustainable Fashion from the London College of Fashion, she is an international lecturer and has held the position of Director of Fashion Print at Central Saint Martins for a decade.