Lauren Copeland, Ph.D.

Dr. Copeland’s focus is to be a “connector” within the field of fashion through industry, academia, social media and sustainability. Through student mentorship, research, creative activities, teaching, service and various collaborations in the School of Fashion, around the Kent State University campus, and around the world, Dr. Copeland sees a growing potential and therefore looks forward to continuing to collaboratively work towards shaping the future of fashion with a thoughtful and cohesive agenda serving the need for futures thinking. Dr. Copeland’s research has expanded to encompass the inherent and implicit connections and to suggest and fulfill future innovation. Her scholarship continues to focus on knowledge of apparel issues among consumers and strategies for increasing the sustainability of the apparel and textiles industry, as well as social networking site use and perception. She has published articles dealing with constructivist-based classroom learning, global consumer behavior, social media usage, big data, fashion knockoff’s, media strategies affecting millennial consumers and the effectiveness of sustainable messaging among apparel brands. She has had her research presented at numerous international conferences around the world. Her past industry experience includes fashion PR, marketing, retail wholesale sales, magazine art development, styling and writing and editing for national blogs.