Dr Elizabeth Kealy-Morris

Senior Lecturer in Fashion, Ethics, and Inclusion

Dr Elizabeth Kealy-Morris

Senior Lecturer in Fashion, Ethics, and Inclusion

Email: e.kealy-morris@mmu.ac.uk

Biography Research Links Office

Dr Elizabeth Kealy-Morris is a Senior Lecturer in Fashion, Ethics and Inclusion at Manchester Fashion Institute, Manchester Metropolitan University. Her interdisciplinary research examines relationships between dress, disability, embodiment and belonging, with particular attention to how clothing and fashion systems can enable or constrain identity, participation and social inclusion.

Her research brings together material and embodied approaches to dress with disability studies, autoethnography and critical approaches to digital fashion. Her theory of Body Dressing Work examines dressing as an embodied and situated practice shaped by interactions between bodies, clothing systems, lived experience and social expectations. This work has developed into research on digital embodiment and inclusive fashion technologies, including 3D and 4D body scanning, avatars and AI-enabled design. Her related work on the Pixelated Body and Pixel Ethics examines how bodies and bodily difference are represented within digital fashion systems, and the ethical implications of the assumptions embedded within these technologies.

This contemporary research develops from a longer-standing interest in dress as a site through which identity, memory, belonging and exclusion are negotiated. Her publications include the monograph Not Fitting In: Preppy Style and Exclusion in American Suburbia (Lived Places Publishing, 2026) and the co-edited collection Memories of Dress: Recollections of Material Identities (Bloomsbury, 2023). Her wider scholarship encompasses disability and adaptive apparel, American dress and political identity, pandemic dressing, cultural memory and creative practice.

Across this work, Kealy-Morris uses qualitative, material, participatory and autoethnographic approaches to investigate how knowledge about dressed bodies is produced, represented and experienced.

Academic and professional qualifications

  • PhD (2017), University of Chester. Practice-based thesis: The Artist’s Book: Making as Embodied Knowledge of Creativity and the Self (pass with no corrections)
  • MA Visual Culture (2008), Manchester Metropolitan University (Distinction)
  • Postgraduate Certificate of Education: Higher, Further and Adult Education (2004)
  • BA (Hons) Graphic Design (2003), Manchester Metropolitan University (First Class Honours)

Previous employment

  • 2018–2019: Senior Lecturer, Academic Professional Development, University Teaching Academy, Manchester Metropolitan University
  • 2017–2018: Head of Department of Art & Design, Staffordshire University
  • 2009–2017: University of Chester, including Senior Teaching Fellow, Faculty of Arts and Media (2013–2017), and programme leadership and teaching roles across Fashion Marketing and Communication, Graphic Design, MA Design and MA Fine Art

Recognitions

  • Fellow, Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)
  • Senior Fellow, Advance HE (SFHEA)
  • Invited Keynote Speaker, Designing Inclusion: Creativity, Ethics, and Emerging Technologies in Fashion Futures, Amity University, Chhattisgarh, India (2026)
  • Invited Keynote Speaker (forthcoming), International Conference on Designing the Future, National Institute of Fashion Technology, Chennai, India (2027)
  • Finalist, Manchester Metropolitan University Images of Research Award — 2025, ‘My jacket makes me feel cool and wild’: Identity, empowerment, and inclusive fashion; and 2026, The Body Beyond Symmetry: Redesigning the Measure
  • Nominated, Manchester Metropolitan University Research Excellence Award (2026)

Academic leadership and professional service

  • Member, UKRI Peer Review College (2024–). Contributes to the peer review of research proposals within the UKRI research funding system.
  • Co-founder, Inclusive Human-Centered Innovative Scholarship Special Interest Group, International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) (2025–). Co-founded an international network advancing research, education and industry practices addressing the clothing and textile needs of diverse and underserved populations, and promoting collaboration in inclusive and human-centred scholarship.
  • Co-organiser, ITAA Special Topic Session, Beyond the “Average Consumer”: Expanding Consumer Behavior Research to Disabled and Marginalized Populations, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference, November 2026.
  • Departmental Disability Coordinator, Manchester Fashion Institute (2026–). Works with academic colleagues and the University’s Inclusion and Disability Service to support the effective implementation of reasonable adjustments and inclusive academic practice for disabled students.
  • Lead, Interdisciplinary Reading Group in Autoethnographic Research, Manchester Metropolitan University Doctoral College (2026–). Established and leads an interdisciplinary researcher-development initiative supporting doctoral researchers’ and early career researchers’ engagement with autoethnographic theory, methodology, ethics, embodiment and creative practice.

Consultancy and advisory roles

Consultant, Differently Enabled (September 2024–present)
Develops qualitative participatory research and thematic analysis to understand the clothing needs and experiences of people with Down syndrome for this London- and New York-based adaptive apparel brand. Research arising from the collaboration has been exhibited at Manchester Metropolitan University, Lancaster University and the British Academy in London.

Visiting and honorary positions

  • 2023-2024: Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Department of Textile and Apparel Management, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.

Editorial roles

  • Associate Editor, Fashion, Style & Popular Culture (Intellect), 2023–present
  • Editorial Board Member – Fashion Design and History, Fashion and Textiles (Springer Nature), 2025-present

Membership of professional associations

  • International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) — Professional Member

Teaching

Elizabeth teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at Manchester Fashion Institute, with particular expertise in research methods, fashion, ethics and inclusion, critical approaches to dress and identity, and qualitative and autoethnographic methodologies.

At postgraduate level, she leads research-methods teaching across Manchester Fashion Institute’s Fashion Business master’s programmes, supporting students in developing theoretically informed and methodologically rigorous independent research. She also supervises undergraduate and postgraduate dissertation and research projects.

Doctoral and research degree supervision

Elizabeth supervises doctoral research within and beyond Manchester Metropolitan University across areas including dress and disability, adaptive and inclusive fashion, material and embodied approaches to dress, identity and belonging, cultural memory, and critical and creative research methodologies.

Her current doctoral supervisory portfolio includes:

  • Jacqueline Morris, Manchester Metropolitan University — First Supervisor. Practice-based PhD exploring folklore on the Welsh Borders; currently writing up.
  • Lokesh Ghai, Manchester Metropolitan University — First Supervisor. Practice-based PhD Re-Making Menswear: Crafting a Modern Indian Heritage Model for Inclusive, Conscious Style-Fashion-Dress; final year. Recipient, AHRC/NWCDTP Award.
  • Medha Priya, Manchester Metropolitan University — First Supervisor. Clothing Cultures of Lower Castes in India; final year.
  • Emma Fazackerley, University of Greater Manchester — External Supervisor. Challenging Systemic Exclusion: A Co-design Framework for Adults with Complex Learning Differences and Disabilities in Adaptive Fashion; first year.
  • Mackenzie Miller, University of Missouri, USA — External Supervisor and Core Committee Member. Bridging Apparel Design and Rehabilitation: Developing a Guided Framework for Adaptive Apparel Alterations Training in Occupational Therapy Education; thesis successfully defended in 2026, with minor revisions required.

Elizabeth was also Second Supervisor for Sophia Stamatopoulou’s MRes, A Phygital Self: Hybridity and Queerness in Digital Fashion Practice, completed at Manchester Metropolitan University in 2023.

Doctoral researcher development and autoethnographic methodology

Elizabeth leads methodological development in autoethnographic research through Manchester Metropolitan University’s Doctoral College. She leads masterclasses and workshops introducing autoethnographic theory to postgraduate research students and early career researcher staff members.

Building on these masterclasses, in 2026 Elizabeth initiated the Doctoral College Interdisciplinary Reading Group in Autoethnographic Research, a six-week interdisciplinary programme providing doctoral researchers with a structured environment in which to critically engage with autoethnographic theory, ethics, embodiment, creative practice and research design.

External examining

  • Critical and Historic Studies, London College of Fashion (from 2025)
  • BA (Hons) Fashion Marketing and Communication, Leeds Arts University (from 2023)
  • MA Creative Direction in Fashion and Beauty, Solent University (2020-2023)

Press and media appearances or contributions

Elizabeth contributes research-led commentary on fashion, dress, disability and popular culture to national and international media.

Published commentary

Expert media commentary — selected

Elizabeth’s research and expertise have also informed reporting on fashion, dress, identity and material culture in national and international media, including:

Research

Research Interests

Elizabeth’s research interests centre on:

  • Dress, disability and social inclusion
  • Embodied dressing and material practices, including her theory of Body Dressing Work
  • Digital embodiment, avatars and inclusive fashion technologies, including her work on the Pixelated Body
  • Artificial intelligence, digital representation and Pixel Ethics
  • Dress, cultural memory, identity, belonging and exclusion
  • Autoethnographic, material, visual, participatory and practice-based research methods

Her research examines relationships between lived experiences of dressing and the systems through which bodies are designed for, represented and understood. Current work brings Disabled people’s experiences of clothing into dialogue with 3D and 4D body scanning, digital avatars and AI-enabled fashion systems, questioning assumptions about symmetry, bodily proportion, posture and movement within digital fashion technologies.

Academic collaborations

Elizabeth is a member of Manchester Metropolitan University’s f/Fashion Narratives and Fashion Technologies research groups, reflecting the two interconnected dimensions of her research: critical and cultural approaches to dress, identity and representation, and the development and critique of emerging fashion technologies.

Her research is also developed through international collaborations in disability, adaptive apparel and inclusive digital fashion, connecting researchers and practitioners at Manchester Metropolitan University, the University of Manchester, the University of Missouri and Parsons School of Design. The Assessing the Apparel Needs of People with Disabilities (AANPWD) pilot brings together UK and US expertise in fashion, disability, apparel design and digital body technologies.

In 2025, Elizabeth co-founded the International Textile and Apparel Association’s Inclusive Human-Centered Innovative Scholarship Special Interest Group, an international network advancing research, education and industry practices addressing the clothing and textile needs of diverse and underserved populations. The SIG promotes collaboration among scholars, designers and practitioners working in inclusive and human-centred scholarship and advocates for greater inclusivity across the global apparel complex.

Conference organisation

  • 2024: MeCCSA International Annual Conference — Member of the organising committee.
  • 2021: Face Off: The Provocation and Possibilities of the Face Mask and Head Scarf — Co-organiser of this international conference hosted by Manchester Fashion Institute.

Academic peer review (selection)

Elizabeth undertakes peer review across fashion, dress, design and material culture, including Fashion Theory, Fashion Practice, Journal of Design History, Costume, Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty and International Journal of Fashion Design Technology and Education.

Impact 

Elizabeth’s research and academic practice extend beyond scholarly publication through engagement with industry and initiatives supporting more inclusive educational and fashion practices.

Her research with Differently Enabled, a London- and New York-based adaptive apparel brand, applies participatory research to understanding the clothing needs and experiences of people with Down syndrome. Research arising from this collaboration has been exhibited at Manchester Metropolitan University, Lancaster University and the British Academy in London.

In April 2024, Elizabeth organised, led and chaired Fashion and [MY] Identity: Fashion + DISABILITY at Manchester Art Gallery. Part of a public series exploring relationships between fashion, dress and identity, the panel brought together adaptive-fashion designers Craig Crawford, founder of Differently Enabled, Hanan Tantush, founder of Intotum, and disability consumer advocate Joanne Gooding to examine barriers Disabled people encounter in accessing stylish clothing that supports independent dressing, identity and social participation.

As Departmental Disability Coordinator for Manchester Fashion Institute, Elizabeth works to strengthen the implementation of reasonable adjustments for disabled students. She developed Enhancing Departmental Engagement with Personal Learning Plans (PLPs), a team-based model proposing Unit Leader-led review, structured teaching-team discussion and shared responsibility for implementing adjustments. The initiative is being developed for stakeholder consultation and piloting, with evaluation of staff workload and student outcomes incorporated into the proposed approach.

She is also a founding member of the Turing Innovation Catalyst group at Manchester Metropolitan University, contributing her expertise in fashion, inclusion and the ethical implications of emerging digital technologies.

Projects

Assessing the Apparel Needs of People with Disabilities (AANPWD)

The Assessing the Apparel Needs of People with Disabilities (AANPWD) pilot study examines the everyday clothing needs and dressing experiences of people with mobility disabilities and their implications for more inclusive fashion design and digital technologies.

Developed through research at Manchester Metropolitan University’s fashion innovation labs, the study combines qualitative and material methods, including wardrobe interviews and photo elicitation, with 3D and 4D body scanning and digital avatar representation. It investigates how clothing is experienced in relation to dressing and undressing, mobility, comfort, identity and social participation, while also examining how digital fashion systems represent bodily difference.

A particular focus is the relationship between lived dressing experience and the assumptions embedded within digital body technologies, including symmetry, upright posture, bodily proportion and movement. The research provides an empirical foundation for Kealy-Morris’s wider theory of Body Dressing Work and her work on the Pixelated Body and Pixel Ethics, connecting Disabled people’s lived experiences of dress with questions of representation, ethics and inclusive digital fashion

The pilot has generated a substantial programme of scholarly dissemination, including three publications, two invited international keynote addresses and three further conference papers. These outputs extend the research into questions of symmetry-centric digital representation, computational inclusion, responsible fashion AI and the ethical responsibilities of designing digital fashion systems around diverse bodies. The work includes the published Routledge chapter The Pixelated Body: Critical Perspectives on Inclusion and Exclusion in Digital Fashion Innovation (2026), with further work forthcoming in Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty and a De Gruyter edited collection on responsible AI in fashion innovation.

Adaptive apparel and Down syndrome: Differently Enabled

Since 2024, Kealy-Morris has worked with Differently Enabled, a London- and New York-based adaptive apparel brand, on participatory research investigating the clothing needs and experiences of people with Down syndrome.

The research uses qualitative participatory enquiry and thematic analysis to examine experiences of clothing and adaptive apparel, contributing lived-experience evidence to the development of more inclusive approaches to fashion. Research arising from the collaboration has been disseminated through exhibitions at Manchester Metropolitan University, Lancaster University and the British Academy in London.

Exhibitions

Kealy-Morris, E., 2016. The Artist’s Book: Making as embodied knowledge of practice & the self, Foyer Gallery, University of Chester, 8/12/2016 - 16/12/2016.

Kealy-Morris, E., Clarke, S., 2016. Impressions Art Book Exhibition, Galway International Arts Festival, Galway International Arts Festival, 11/7/2016 - 24/7/2016.

Kealy-Morris, E., Dilworth, A., 2016. Gorderkreis Contemporary Art Gallery, Gorderkreis Contemporary Art Gallery, Euskirchen, Germany, 8/7/2016 - 21/8/2016.

Artefacts

Kealy-Morris, E., Clarke, S., Bodman, S., 2017. 'Artist’s Book Yearbook 2018-19', University of the West of England.

Kealy-Morris, E., 2016. 'A Walk of Twenty Steps', http://www.ekealymorris.com/a-walk-of-twenty-steps.html.

Kealy-Morris, E., Dilworth, A., 2016. 'Sailm', Förderkreis Contemporary Art Gallery, Euskirchen, Germany.

Kealy-Morris, E., Clarke, S., 2016. 'a strange field', United Kingdom.

Kealy-Morris, E., 2012. 'Leaving (a work in progress)', Contemporary Art Space Chester Gallery, Chester, UK.

Books

Kealy-Morris, E., II, J.H.H., 2026. 'Not Fitting In', Lived Places Publishing.

Kealy-Morris, E., 2026. 'Not Fitting In: Preppy style and exclusion in American suburbia', Lived Places Publishing, New York, USA.

Slater, A., Atkin, S., Kealy-Morris, E., 2023. 'Memories of Dress: Recollections of Material Identities', Bloomsbury, London.

Book Chapters

Kealy-Morris, E., 2026. 'The Allure of the Luxury Fashion Brand Publication: consuming the fashion product as media'. In Armstrong, K., Barnes, E. (eds.) The Palgrave Handbook of Fashion Marketing, Palgrave (Springer Nature), Cham.

Kealy-Morris, E., McBee-Black, K., 2026. 'The Pixelated Body'. In Shaping the Future of Fashion, pp. 7-25, Routledge.

Kealy-Morris, E., McBee-Black, K., 2026. 'The Pixelated Body: Critical perspectives on inclusion and exclusion in digital fashion innovation'. In Alexander, B., Dearsley, K., Lin, Y.L.E., Loscialpo, F. (eds.) Shaping the future of fashion: A research companion, Routledge.

Gupta, S., Kealy-Morris, E., Srivastava, I., 2025. 'The Global Artisan Project: a collaborative, co-creation project connecting fashion undergraduates and Indian artisans'. In Scott, K., Pajaczkowska, C., Curt, B. (eds.) The Future of Fashion Education: Speculation, Experience and Collaboration, pp. 183-198, Routledge, Abingdon.

Slater, A., Atkin, S., Kealy-Morris, E., 2023. 'Introduction'. In Slater, A., Atkin, S., Kealy-Morris, E. (eds.) Memories of Dress: recollections of material identities, pp. 1-20, Bloomsbury Academic.

Kealy-Morris, E., 2023. ''The American Look': memories of not fitting in'. In Atkin, S., Slater, A., Kealy-Morris, E. (eds.) Memories of Dress: Recollections of material identities, pp. 157-174, Bloomsbury Academic.

Journal Articles

Kealy-Morris, E., McBee-Black, K., barry, B., Brubacher, K., Beresford, M., 2026. 'The pixelated body: Pixel ethics and inclusive futures in digital fashion', Critical Studies in Fashion and Beauty.

Kealy-Morris, E., Porter, M., 2026. 'Adorned in American Dreams: Cultural Memory and the Style of the American Far-Right', International Journal of Fashion Studies.

Kealy-Morris, E., 2026. 'The COVID-19 pandemic five years on: Material memories of pandemic dressing', Fashion Style and Popular Culture, 13 (1-2), pp. 7-12.

Whittingham, B., Kealy-Morris, E., 2026. 'The post-COVID UK high street: a case study of the unique use of experiential marketing by charity shops', Fashion, Style and Popular Culture, 13 (1/2).

Kealy-Morris, E., 2025. 'Dress and Identity in America: The Baby Boom Years 1946–1964, Daniel Delis Hill (2024)', Fashion, Style & Popular Culture.

Kealy-Morris, E., 2025. '“‘The American Look’: the transformation of women’s sportswear in 1930s and 1940s America', Fashion, Style and Popular Culture, 12 (1-2), pp. 101-121.

Kealy-Morris, E., Eaton, R., 2025. 'An interview with Ruth Eaton: Community-driven responses – the role of home sewing in mask and PPE kit production during the COVID-19 pandemic', Fashion, Style & Popular Culture.

Kealy-Morris, E., 2024. 'The meaning of the mask: ambivalent social identity and mask refusal in Covid America', Fashion, Style and Popular Culture.

Kealy-Morris, E., 2015. 'The bookbinding workshop: Making as collaborative pedagogic practice', Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education, 14 (2), pp. 119-129.

Kealy-Morris, E., 2013. 'The artist book: Making as visual method', Journal of Writing in Creative Practice, 6 (2), pp. 247-275.

Conference Papers

Kealy-Morris, E., McBee-Black, K., 2026. 'Ethics beyond optimization: Pixel ethics, disability, and the limits of fashion AI inclusivity', 3rd International Symposium on AI in Fashion, University of the Arts London, London College of Fashion, 11/6/2026 - 12/6/2026, in https://www.arts.ac.uk/colleges/london-college-of-fashion/international-symposium-on-ai-in-fashion-2026/conference-proceedings, pp. 142-143.

Kealy-Morris, E., Poage, J., 2025. 'Body Dressing Work: a narrative review of the use of apparel as camouflage by people with disabilities to enable belonging and inclusion', International Textile and Apparel Association, Long Beach, California, USA, 20/11/2024 - 23/11/2024, in International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings (Making Waves Toward A Sustainable and Equitable Future), 81 (1), pp. 1-3.

Kealy-Morris, E., 2025. 'Pixelated Bodies: Exploring the Integration of User-focused Virtual Fashion Solutions for Underrepresented Bodies', International Textile and Apparel Association, Long Beach, California, USA, 20/11/2024 - 23/11/2024, in International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings (Making Waves Toward A Sustainable and Equitable Future), 81 (1), pp. 1-3.

McBee-Black, K., Kealy-Morris, E., Gooding, J., Wu, J., 2024. 'Digital E-commerce: The need for inclusive representation in the digital apparel retail environment', Digital Fashion Innovation Conference (DFIC), Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK, 2/7/2024 - 4/7/2024.

Brown, E.L., Cili, S., Cornell, N., Dewey, C., Gooding, J., Kealy-Morris, E., McBee-Black, K., Poage, J., 2024. 'In Conversation: Fashioning Inclusivity: integrating style, fit and adaptability', ADH International Conference 2023: Ad-Dressing the Margins: Historically underrepresented fashion and style, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 28/10/2023, 11 (1), pp. 153-154.

Perry, P., Neary, R., Scott, K., Kealy-Morris, E., 2024. ''International Collaborative Project Framework for COIL in Fashion Education’', The Future of International Fashion Design Education, Online, 29/9/2022 - 29/9/2022.

Kealy-Morris, E., 2022. '‘The American Look’: the transformation of women’s sportswear in 1930s and 1940s America', Association of Dress Historians Conference 2022: Fashioning the Body for Sport and Leisure: A History of Dress and Textiles, Online and London: Courtauld Institute, 30/9/2022 - 1/10/2022.

Kealy-Morris, E., 2021. 'Who is the Sick One Here?: Mask refusal and ambivalent social identity in America', Face Off: The provocation and possibilities of the mask and head coverings, Virtual, 13/1/2021 - 14/1/2021, in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv459AmP54Y&list=PLH3AdxkKlfaZEHhob2ncPUsDt97jiY557&index=8.

Kealy-Morris, E., 2018. 'The Shift Dress as Cultural Meaning', Culture Costume and Dress International Conference, Birmingham City University, 10/5/2017 - 12/5/2017, in https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/5701/, 1 (1), pp. 122-131.

Kealy-Morris, E., 2018. 'Social media: making your presence count', The Fashion Network Conference, Manchester, 30/5/2018 - 30/5/2018.

Kealy-Morris, E., 2016. 'A Walk of Twenty Steps: The return of the girl with the crooked spine from an upstanding town', College Book Arts Association National Conference, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA, 6/1/2016 - 9/1/2016.

Kealy-Morris, E., 2015. 'The Persistence of Memory', The International Journal of Art & Design Annual Conference, Glasgow School of Art, 6/11/2015 - 7/11/2015.

Kealy-Morris, E., 2015. 'The Bookbinding Workshop: Making as collaborative pedagogic practice', Group for Learning in Art & Design Annual Conference, Sheffield-Hallam University, 26/2/2015 - 27/2/2015.

Presentations

Neary, R., Perry, P., Kealy-Morris, E., Scott, K., Price, H., Thornton, A., Muhammad Sayem, A., 2022. ''International Collaborative Project Framework for COIL in Fashion Education’, The Future of International Fashion and Design Education, Istituto Marangoni London, online, 29 Sept 2022. Available from: https://www.researchiml.com/events-the-future-of-international-fashion-design-education.', Online.

Theses and Dissertations

Kealy-Morris, E., 2017. 'The Artist's Book: Making as embodied knowledge of practice and the self'.

Other Outputs

Kealy-Morris, E., 2026. 'Guest Editor for the Special Issue: 'Dressing through Pandemics', journal of Fashion, Style and Popular Culture'.

Academia

mmu.academia.edu/DrElizabethKealyMorris

LinkedIn

www.linkedin.com/in/dr-elizabeth-kealy-morris

Office Location

Room C2.24
Cavendish South
Manchester Fashion Institute
Manchester Metropolitan University
Cavendish Street
Manchester M15 6BG