Ben Barry
Dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons School of Design
Ben Barry is a Canadian fashion scholar and academic leader who has been dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons School of Design in New York since 2021. His work focuses on equity, disability justice and inclusion in fashion, a theme he first pursued as a teenager running a model agency representing diverse bodies.
| Role | Dean, School of Fashion, Parsons School of Design |
|---|---|
| Since | 2021 |
| Previously | Chair, School of Fashion, Toronto Metropolitan University |
| Education | PhD, Cambridge Judge Business School |
| Focus | Equity, disability and inclusion in fashion |
Who is Ben Barry?
Ben Barry is a fashion educator and researcher who leads one of the world's best known fashion schools. At Parsons School of Design, part of The New School, he is dean of the School of Fashion and holds the Joseph and Gail Gromek Professorship in Fashion Business. His work asks how fashion can challenge systems of exclusion.
Career
Barry founded the Ben Barry Agency at the age of 14. The agency represented models of diverse sizes, races, ages and abilities and partnered with the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. He wrote the Canadian bestseller Fashioning Reality: A New Generation of Entrepreneurship.
He studied women's studies and political science at the University of Toronto and earned an MPhil and a PhD from the University of Cambridge, the latter at Cambridge Judge Business School in 2012. He then joined what is now Toronto Metropolitan University, where he became chair of the School of Fashion in 2018. In 2021 he joined Parsons as dean of fashion. Parsons continues to list him in this role; in August 2025 the school noted that Anne Gaines had been serving as interim dean of the School of Fashion when she was named executive dean of Parsons.
Influence on the fashion business
Barry's research and leadership have pushed inclusion from marketing campaigns into the structures of fashion education and design. His contributions include:
- Co-founding the Parsons Disabled Fashion Student Program with Sinéad Burke to support disabled students
- Initiatives on access, disability justice and Indigenous resurgence
- Research published in journals such as Fashion Theory and Gender & Society
- Research projects that have attracted more than 27 million dollars in external funding
His forthcoming book, Crip Fashion, examines how disabled people transform fashion through everyday practices and collective world making.
Why it matters
Fashion brands increasingly recognise that size, age and disability inclusion are both social and commercial questions, since large groups of consumers are poorly served by standard sizing and design. Barry's work provides research evidence and educational models for addressing that gap. By shaping what future designers learn at Parsons, he influences the next generation of products, campaigns and business decisions across the industry.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Ben Barry?
Ben Barry is a Canadian fashion scholar who has been dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons School of Design since 2021. He previously chaired the School of Fashion at Toronto Metropolitan University.
What is Ben Barry known for?
He is known for research and leadership on inclusion, disability and equity in fashion. As a teenager he founded a model agency representing diverse bodies, and at Parsons he co-founded a programme for disabled fashion students.