Research
Aliena Guggenberger is an art and fashion historian specialising in design strategies from around 1900 to the present. She is especially interested in the connections between historical and contemporary design discourses and the intertwining of the applied arts and gender in the early 20th century. As part of the BMFTR-project UN/SEEN. Innovative Women in Graphic Design 1865−1919, she investigated more than 300 biographies and works of female graphic designers before the Bauhaus.
Her postdoctoral project at global dis:connect examines the historical and contemporary strategies of small studios and luxury brands to create collections that are globally competitive while remaining rooted in cultural heritage. That includes initiatives of independence that emphasise cultural identity and local craftmanship, as well as cross-cultural collaborations in fashion, balancing appreciation and appropriation. Drawing on the historical concept of Weltmode (world fashion), the project focusses on the design process encompassing its entire cultural infrastructure from concept to presentation.
Have a look at Aliena’s research poster about her project.
Biography
Aliena Guggenberger studied art history/cultural history in Augsburg and Heidelberg. In 2023, she received her PhD from LMU Munich on the fashion designer and artisan Emmy Schoch and the German dress reform movement. While working on her PhD, she taught art history at the IEK Heidelberg. From 2023 to 2025, she was a research associate in the BMFTR project UN/SEEN. Innovative Women in Graphic Design 1865−1919 at the Mainz University for Applied Sciences’ Institut Designlabor Gutenberg. Her role in the project combined research with coordinating communication formats, including workshops, a symposium and social media. The project was awarded five design prizes, among them the German Design Award and the Gender Design Award iphiGenia.
Aliena lectures, teaches, and publishes in the fields of art history, design and fashion. In 2025, she published a city map for and about women in collaboration with the city of Augsburg and design students. She has been a postdoctoral research associate at global dis:connect at LMU Munich since October 2025.
Selected Publications
Guggenberger, Aliena. ‘Das System-Reformkleid. Die Modeschöpferin Emmy Schoch und die Erneuerung der Frauenkleidung um 1900’.Dissertation, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 2023.
———. ‘Der Heidelberger Filmclub’. In Film Plakat Kunst. Dietrich Lehmann und der Heidelberger Filmclub der 50er Jahre, edited by Henry Keazor, Heidelberg: arthistoricum, 2019.
———. ‘Die Korsett-Frage: Unterdrückung oder Selbstbestimmung? Ein Gespräch’. In HERRschaft: Macht: Körper. Feministische Perspektiven, edited by Frauen*stadtarchiv Dresden, Dresden: Frauen*stadtarchiv, 2022.
———. ‘‘Eines schickt sich nicht für Alle!‛ – Zum Wirken der Modeschöpferin Emmy Schoch’. Blick in die Geschichte. Karlsruher stadthistorische Beiträge 139 (2023): 2-3.
———. Emmy Shoch. Karlsruher Köpfe. Schriftenreihe des Stadtarchivs Karlsruhe. Vol. 6, Karlsruhe: Lindemanns, 2023.
———. ‘‘Mode-Opfer‘ und Reformerin. Weibliche Mode-Stereotype in der ersten Phase der Jugend (1896-1903)’. Jahrbuch netzwerk mode textil (2022): 36-47.
———, ‘Modekünstler*innen, kunstundmode, Kunsthalle Karlsruhe’, blog accompanying the exhibition „Kunst und Mode“, Jun-Oct 2020.
———. ‘Text, Textur, Textil – Tragbare Reklame vom TET-Kleid zum Paper Dress’. Annali. Sezione germanica 34 (2024): 171-19.
———. ‘Vivat Crescat Floreat. Die Gebrauchsgrafikerin und Modezeichnerin Marianne Amthor’. In Die Neue Frau – Wie Künstlerinnen und Gestalterinnen die Moderne prägten, edited by HFBK Hamburg: HFBK Hamburg, 2024.
———. ‘Von der Modepuppe zum Mannequin und zurück. Weibliches Selbstverständnis zwischen (Re)Präsentation und Individualität’. de:do (multidisziplinäre Zeitschrift für mensch-puppen-diskurse) 5, no. 1 (2022): 70-77.
———. ‘Zwischen Künstlerkleid und Eigenkleid – geschlechtsspezifische Gestaltungsweisen in der deutschen Reformkleid-Bewegung’. In Mode und Gender. Beiträge zur Debatte, edited by Katharina Tietze and Anna-Brigitte Schlittler, Bielefeld: transcript, 2024.
Guggenberger, Aliena and Julia Neller. ‘Synergie-Effekte. Kleines Team – maximale Aufmerksamkeit für Frauen im Grafik-Design’. In Innovativ – Exzellent – Sichtbar: Frauen in Wissenschaft, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Impulse, Best-Practice-Beispiele und Handlungsempfehlungen. Tagungsband zur Fachtagung am 20./21. März 2025 in Berlin, edited by Kompetenzzentrum Technik-Diversity-Chancengleichheit e. V, Bielefeld: Kompetenzzentrum, 2025.
Click here for Aliena’s CV, including a full list of publications.