Head, School of Fashion

Dr Circe Henestrosa

circe-henestrosa
  • PhD (Fashion Curation), University of the Arts London, London College of Fashion, UK
  • MA (Professional Development in Cultural Leadership), The City University, London, UK 
  • MA with Distinction (Fashion Curation), University of the Arts London, London College of Fashion, UK
  • BA (International Business Management), Panamericana University, Mexico

Dr Circe Henestrosa is an international fashion curator whose research bridges tangible and intangible heritage to develop innovative design languages. Her work explores heritage and craft as catalysts for building cultural enterprises within the fashion industry. Through her curatorial practice, she investigates how garments and material culture shape, reflect, and communicate more diverse and inclusive social and cultural narratives within the exhibition context.

Prior to joining LASALLE, Dr Henestrosa held senior arts management roles at the British Council, working on collaborations and co-productions with artists and designers such as Damien Hirst, Mona Hatoum, Peter Greenaway, Dai Rees, Jimmy Choo and Vivienne Westwood.

At LASALLE, Dr Henestrosa co-founded the Fashion & Southeast Asia Lab to foster critical and creative fashion research rooted in the region. Her work examines how contemporary fashion designers produce fashion in the Tropics, responding to climate, culture, and materiality. She has led research projects across Singapore, the Philippines, South Korea, and Cambodia—analysing and reinterpreting historical and traditional techniques within contemporary design contexts.

Dr Henestrosa curated the critically acclaimed exhibition Appearances Can Be Deceiving: The Dresses of Frida Kahlo (2012) at the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City, and co-curated the blockbuster exhibition Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up (2018) at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Following the Paris presentation of the exhibition, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Creative Director at Dior, invited Henestrosa to collaborate on the Dior 2024 Cruise Collection, which was inspired by Frida Kahlo. For this project, Henestrosa worked closely with Mexican artisans, collaborating with Chiuri to integrate traditional Mexican textile techniques into the collection's cultural and creative direction.

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Books

  • Henestrosa, C., & Wilcox, C. (Eds.). Frida Kahlo: Beyond Appearances. Paris: Paris Musées (2022)
  • Henestrosa, C. (Ed.), Arzalluz, M., & Labarthe, P. Corpus: Frida Kahlo par Katerina Jebb. Paris: Paris Musées (2022)
  • Kahlo, F., Lugo, J. L., Phillips, C., Serrano, J., Henestrosa, C., Turok, M., Murillo, O., Scharrer, B., Enríquez, L., Romero, M., García, P., Ortiz Monasterio, P., Moreno, J., Aguilar Zinser, L. E., & Estrada, G. Frida Kahlo: Her Universe. RM Verlag (2021)
  • Henestrosa, C., Ankori, G., & Olcott, H. C. Frida Kahlo and San Francisco, Constructing Her Identity. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (2020)
  • Henestrosa, C., & Wilcox, C. Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up. V&A Publishing (2018)
  • Ishiuchi, M., Trujillo, H., Ankori, G., & Machiguchi, S. Frida by Ishiuchi (C. Henestrosa, Ed.). Mexico City: Editorial RM (2014)
  • Henestrosa, C. (Ed.). Los museos de cara al siglo 21. British Council México (2005)

Articles

  • Henestrosa, C. ‘Beyond Appearances: From Kahlo to Dior’ in The Routledge Companion to Fashion (eds. Radclyffe, N. Radclyffe-Thomas, B.). Routledge (forthcoming)
  • Henestrosa, C., Ankori, G. ‘Phantom Limbs: Frida Kahlo’s Art, Fashion, and Disability’ in Frida: The Making of an Icon (ed. Ramírez M.C). The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (in press)
  • Henestrosa, C., & Chon, H. (2017). ‘Learning through disruptive interactions’ in Cumulus REDO Conference Proceedings. Design School Kolding. ISBN 978-87-93416-15-4 (2017)

  • Honorary Professor, Norwich University of the Arts; UK (2025)

Exhibitions

  • Tropical Visions: Re-fashioning the Global Tropics (forthcoming)
  • Yo, Maria Felix, Franz Mayer Museum; Mexico City (forthcoming)
  • Frida Kahlo International Tour; Seoul, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Barcelona, Tokyo (forthcoming)
  • Design and Disability, Victoria and Albert Museum; London (2025)
  • Frida Kahlo: In Her Own Image, Bendigo Art Gallery, Melbourne (2024)
  • Frida Kahlo: Beyond Appearances, Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris, Palais Galliera; Paris (2022)
  • Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can be Deceiving, the deYoung Museum; San Francisco (2020)
  • Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up, Brooklyn Museum; New York, USA (2019)
  • Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up, Victoria and Albert Museum; London, UK (2018)
  • Appearances Can Be Deceiving: The Dresses of Frida Kahlo, Museo Frida Kahlo; Mexico City, Mexico (2012)

Conference papers

  • ‘Re-Presenting Frida Kahlo: Curating Empathy and Otherness’, talk presented at Goldsmiths, University of London; UK (2025)
  • ‘Hope and Defiance’, presented at the Frida Kahlo Opening Symposium, ArtScience Museum, Marina Bay Sands; Singapore (2024)
  • ‘Re-Presenting Frida Kahlo: Curating Empathy and Otherness’, talk presented at Parsons, The New School; New York (2024)
  • ‘Indigeneity and Fashion: From Frida Kahlo to Dior’, talk presented at the Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University; Waltham, Massachusetts (2024)
  • ‘Stories Artists Tell Us’, forum presented at the National Gallery Singapore, as part of Tropical: Stories from Southeast Asia and Latin America exhibition; Singapore (2023)
  • ‘Fashioning Disability: Frida Kahlo’, presentation at the international conference: Frida Kahlo, au-delà des apparences, Institut Français de la Mode, as part of Frida Kahlo: Beyond Appearances; Paris, France (2023)
  • ‘Frida Kahlo: POSE Virtual Tour’, presented at the Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University; Waltham, Massachusetts (2021)
  • ‘Fashion Culture: Curating Frida Kahlo – Fashion & Prosthetics’, online event, The Museum at FIT. Accessible here (2021)
  • Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving digital curator discussion, online discussion, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; San Francisco, California Accessible here (2020)
  • Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving exhibition virtual tour, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; San Francisco, California Accessible here (2020)
  • Curator talk at the Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving exhibition, Brooklyn Museum; New York (2019)
  • ‘De-stigmatization of Disability through Fashion, Dress, and Identity’, presentation at the Frida: Inside and Outside symposium, Victoria and Albert Museum, as part of exhibition Frida Kahlo Making: Her Self Up; London, UK (2018)

Documentaries

  • Fashion curation
  • Museums studies
  • Craft and heritage
  • Fashion design
  • Image making