By Maryanne George

Robin Givhan (photo below), Pulitzer Prize winning fashion editor of the Washington Post, delivered the Vivian R. Shaw Lecture on October 28. In her talk, Givhan examined the convergence of fashion, power and politics in “The Washington Catwalk.”

To watch a PODCAST featuring Givhan discussing her work, please click on the link: GIVHAN ON FASHION, POWER & POLITICS

The Shaw lecture is presented by the University of Michigan Women’s Studies Department and the Institute for Research on Women and Gender. Lectures are free and open to the public.

Givhan, a Detroit native and U-M alumna, covers the news, trends and business of the international fashion industry for the Washington Post and writes a weekly culture column.

In 2009, she began covering Michelle Obama and the cultural and social shifts created by the first African American family the White House.  Givhan is the author of “Michelle: Her First Year as First Lady,” a joint project with the Washington Post.

Her work has appeared in Harper’s Bazaar, American Vogue, Essence and the New Yorker.

She has contributed to several books including “Runway Madness,” “No Sweat: Fashion, Free Trade and the Rights of Garment Workers,” and “Thirty Ways of Looking at Hillary: Reflections by Women Writers.” She won the Pulitzer Prize in criticism for her fashion coverage in 2006.

The lecture was co-sponsored by the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Department of Communication Studies, and the Howard R. Marsh Center for the Study of Journalistic Performance.

To read a profile on Robin Givhan published in the Detroit Free Press (Oct. 24, 2010), please click HERE

Maryanne George is public information specialist for the College of Literature, Science & Arts.