1. Alexandru Balasescu is a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine, and holds an M.A. in Ethnology from the University of Lyon, France. His research interests cover semiotics, theories of secularism, and fashion and dress. His thesis (in progress) focuses on the circulation of dress and images between Paris and Tehran, with emphasis on fashion designers in Paris, and women's dress practices in the Iranian capital.