Iranian Fashion Blogger and Activist Hoda Katebi to speak at Parsons about her recently-published photo book Tehran Streetstyle, the first-ever in-print collection of modern fashion photography from the streets of Tehran, Iran.

Tehran Streetstyle provides a visual introduction to the Iranian underground fashion scene and the young people who play active roles in shaping and defining it. This book presents an alternative view of Iranians by challenging mainstream Western notions of Iran and fashion as well as domestic government regulations.

Despite mandatory conservative governmental dress codes, the women and men photographed in Tehran Streetstyle creatively express their identities through fashion. They break countless laws in the process, risking arrest on a daily basis. Many of those photographed are fashion designers in Iran’s burgeoning underground slow fashion movement, actively creating provoking pieces while integrating traditional Iranian designs.

The photographs in this book reveal how Iranians are redefining the beauty standards of the global fashion industry, offering an inspirational alternative to the skin-bearing and tight-fitting clothes that dominate the Western fashion industry. Tehran Streetstyle reveals how a young generation of Iranians are taking control of their lives and challenging conservative norms at home and misrepresentation abroad, transforming their society in the process.

Author and photographer Hoda Katebi is a prominent activist fashion blogger and graduate of the University of Chicago whose research focuses on the underground fashion movement in Iran and the intersections of fashion, gender, and nation-hood. In 2013 she founded JooJoo Azad (www.joojooazad.com), an online platform dedicated to the integration of ethical fashion and activism through an anti-capitalist, intersectional-feminist, lens. Since then, Hoda’s work has been featured on various media outlets, including Teen Vogue, German RTL news, NPR, and the Malala Foundation blog. Her work focuses on the power of self-representation and narrative through fashion, writing, and photography; challenging misconceptions about Iran and Islam; encouraging an ethical and minimal lifestyle; and celebrating beauty that extends beyond that which is narrowly defined by mainstream media.

She will be speaking on Monday, April 10, at 6.45PM in Kellen Auditorium (66 Fifth Avenue, Ground Floor). This event is open to the public.