"This study of early modern Scandinavian clothing, fashion and textile trade offers a better understanding of how international trade and global cultural encounters shaped Scandinavian cultures in the Renaissance period. Using empirical and material evidence it explores what economic, social and stylistic changes were introduced by foreign imports in Scandinavian clothing cultures, how the lives of individuals were visually transformed by novel concepts, and, eventually, what constituted Scandinavian ‘fashions’ in the period (1550-1620). Carried out at the Centre for Textile Research (CTR), Copenhagen, the central goal of the project is to develop a new methodology combining my previous experience of empirical evidence and theoretical models drawn from fashion theory, social and economic history and anthropology with the tradition of textile analysis and costume conservation. This involves training in technical analysis of textiles, language and palaeographic skills and museum work. The CTR provides an exceptional environment for research and career development, because it holds an extensive international network of scholars and museum partners as well as a strong methodological expertise in textiles at both theoretical and practical levels. The new research perspectives and object-based methods gained at the CTR will result in a series of dissemination activities addressed both at the academic and general public, including scientific publications, an exhibition concept, visiting lectures, internet blog and a mini-conference that draws my own networks at CTR. Denmark has a long tradition of the study of historical dress. Training within the dynamic research environment of the CTR and Danish museums provides me with the research and management skills that, supported by a management course offered by the University of Copenhagen, will allow me to gain an independent senior academic position. My ambition is to found a Centre for Fashion Studies in Helsinki in 2015."