Photograph by Nina Galicheva
Raissa Bretaña is a New York City-based fashion historian. As a researcher, writer, lecturer, and educator, she takes an interdisciplinary approach to fashion history—working to find socio-cultural connections to the field, while also striving to make it more accessible through integration across various media platforms.
Raissa has lectured throughout the United States and internationally on varied topics—such as nineteenth-century dress reform, the Golden Age of Couture, period costume in Hollywood film, and the history of fashionable footwear. She is currently a faculty member in the History of Art department at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She has worked at the New-York Historical Society, educating museum visitors about fashion history and the women’s suffrage movement. Additionally, Raissa hosts “Would They Wear That?”— a video series for Glamour in which she fact-checks historical costumes in popular media.
Raissa recently appeared as a guest on Follow the Thread—a special programming series for Turner Classic Movies that explores the relationship between fashion and film. She joins a cast of industry professionals like Tim Gunn, Bob Mackie, Zac Posen, and Sandy Powell in a series of mini-documentaries that premiered on the cable network on June 4, 2022, and was featured on the TCM Hub on HBO Max.
Raissa earned her Master of Arts from the Fashion Institute of Technology, in Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, and Museum Practice. She has held internships with the Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Textile and Fashion Arts Department at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Costume Research Division at Western Costume Company. Raissa previously received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Costume Design from Boston University, and has worked professionally in theatre, opera, film, and television. She continues to consult on historical costumes for film and television productions.
Raissa has a passion for vintage clothing and is an ardent supporter of the arts. She can often be found attending New York’s various vintage events—or else, at the theatre (her first and truest love).