Reina Lewis

Reina Lewis (born 1963)

Early life Lewis was born in northeast London. She trained in Fine Art and Art History at the University of Leeds, and received her MA in English: Critical Theory from Sussex University. Her PhD in Humanities at Middlesex University on western women orientalist artists and writers marked a new development in understandings of gender and imperial cultures.

Career Lewis's research has focused upon postcolonial history, Middle Eastern and Ottoman women's history, lesbian and gay studies and studies of other minority groups. The launch of the book was combined with a London College of Fashion panel discussion on "Muslim Fashion: recent histories, future directions". In 2016, she was an introducer for the foundation of the British Asian Fashion Network. A frequent media commentator, Lewis's writings and opinion have appeared across the global media in more recently The New York Times, Le Monde, The Guardian, The Times, and Marie Claire magazine, and she is regularly to be heard on BBC Radio 4.

Alongside authoring a number of seminal texts on gender and orientalism and queer visual culture, Lewis has also acted as consultant curator on the exhibition Contemporary Muslim Fashions at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (September 2018 – January 2019, touring to Germany in spring 2019, and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York (2020–21).

Works Gendering Orientalism: Race, Femininity and Representation (1995) Rethinking Orientalism: Women, Travel and the Ottoman Harem (2004) Gender, Modernity & Liberty: Middle Eastern and Western Women's Writings: A Critical Sourcebook (2006) The poetics and politics of place: Ottoman Istanbul and British orientalism (2011) Modest fashion: styling bodies, mediating faith. Dress Cultures (2013) Muslim Fashion: Contemporary Style Cultures (2015) Uncovering Modesty: Dejabis and Dewigies Expanding the Parameters of the Modest Fashion Blogosphere (2015)

Reports (Lewis R, Aune K, and Molokotos-Liederman L), Modest Fashion in UK Women’s Working Life: A report for fashion and the creative industries and creative arts education (2021) (Aune K, Lewis R, and Molokotos-Liederman L). Modest Fashion in UK Women’s Working Life: A report for employers, HR professionals, religious organisations, and policymakers (2021)

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