Clarissa Esguerra

Editorial Board Member

LA COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART
 

Clarissa M. Esguerra is Curator of Costume and Textiles at LACMA. She joined the curatorial staff in 2008 and has since overseen numerous costume and textile-related installations and acquisitions. Most recently, she co-curated Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse (2022), followed by an international tour. In 2019 she curated Power of Pattern: Central Asian Ikats from the David and Elizabeth Reisbord Collection, and in 2016, she co-curated Reigning Men: Fashion in Menswear, 1715-2015-- both exhibitions were awarded the Richard Martin Award for Excellence in the Exhibition of Costume by the Costume Society of America. Her curatorial contributions also include Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700 – 1915 (2010-2011) and Undertaking the Making: LACMA Costume and Textiles Pattern Project, an online educational resource that publishes free downloadable garment patterns from fashions in the permanent collection. Esguerra received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in fashion design, gender studies, and the history of dress from Brenau Women’s College and the University of Georgia. She lectures regularly on historic dress, and has authored, co-authored, and contributed to various exhibition catalogues, journals, and magazines. Currently, Esguerra is developing an exhibition on the fashion and textiles of the Philippines.