Suzanne Schulz

Biography

I am originally from Berlin and have studied theatre studies, psychology and politics at the Freie Universität Berlin for two years before taking part in the Erasmus programme and moving to Manchester. After completion of my Erasmus year, I enrolled at the University of Manchester to study sociology. The sociologists whom I met during my time at Manchester had a profound impact on my own identity as sociologist and my lingering interest in symbolic interactionism, Goffman and ethnomethodology. However, it was a footnote in one of Simmel’s essays that I read when I was in my second year that sparked my research interest in fashion.

Research Interest

My main research interest lies in the production of fashion and the tensions between the creative processes and economic constrains involved in its production. In the past I have approached this subject by (i) studying the formation of collective taste amongst fashion practitioners and its role in dealing with demand uncertainty and by (ii) investigating how fashion designers, buyers and merchandisers of UK High Street fashion retailers negotiate discrepancies in their occupational outlooks. I have published papers on the role of the customer image in fashion selection and strategies used by fashion practitioners to cope with demand uncertainty.