Vladimira Steffek, MBA, MA.Art, BA.Art

Dr. Vladimira Steffek is a Professor in the School of Fashion and Jewelry at George Brown College. Vladimira holds a Master of Business Administration Degree (MBA) from Ryerson University, Toronto, a PhD Degree in Management from University of Presov, a Master of Arts in Fashion Design Degree (MFA), a Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Design Degree (BA) from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava (AFAD), and a Diploma in Apparel Design and Construction from the Art College of Textile in Brno, as well as a Teaching Certificate in Adult Education from Canadian College of Educators. She studied Textile Design at Aalto University in Helsinki as a Government of Finland Scholarship recipient and the High Fashion pattern-making techniques at Academia Koefia in Rome as a winner of Mittelmoda Award.

She has held various fashion industry positions in Europe before coming to Canada. As a fashion designer and entrepreneur, Vladimira has presented her work in Italy, China, Finland, Austria, Hungary, Poland, the USA, Czechia, and Slovakia. She savored the challenges of being a Fashion Educator, Consultant, Fashion Stylist and Costume Designer for large-scale TV shows, as well as a Fashion Magazine Editor. At this capacity she attended Paris Haute Couture Fashion Weeks and Roma Alta Moda Fashion Weeks.

With a background in fashion design and business management, Vladimira specializes in researching sustainable fashion in the context of local and circular economies in both Canada and Europe. Her research focuses on how sustainable practices impact the behaviour and attitudes of diverse segments and how they can be put into practice. Dr. Steffek has been a key member of the applied research project team involved with fashion, textile, and apparel manufacturing partners “LIFT: Leading through Innovation in Fashion Technologies”. This $1M project has been supported via infrastructure funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation. Her current research projects include a cross-cultural study on adoption of the sustainable concept of slow fashion with partners from Canada, South Africa and China, The International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes Conference (IFFTI), and the 2020 Undergraduate Research Opportunities (URO) program. She is a winner of the Kent Chin Award 2014 for Graduate Achievement at Ryerson University, the 6th Brother Cup in Beijing, China, Mittelmoda Premio in Gorizia, Italy, Jablonex 2006 in Czech Republic, Collection of the Season, Slovak Republic, and the Instructor of the Year in Fine Arts Disciplines.

Vladimira has taught undergraduate courses at Ryerson University and joined George Brown College in 2015 where she teaches a variety of fashion management and fashion industry courses.