Charlene Fossum collection of subculture publications
Scope and Contents
This collection contains books, issues from magazines and catalogs, manga, and a pin, all collected throughout the 1980s and 1990s by Charlene Fossum, an African American goth who grew up in the Philadelphia area. Items were either purchased by mail order, from stores in Philadelphia, or stores in New York City (e.g. Tower Records), and are connected either to alternative goth subculture or to Japanese style and culture.
View each series for more detail on dates and issue numbers.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1985-2005
Creator
- Fossum, Charlene (1971-) (Person)
Language of Materials
English German Japanese Japanese Latin
Conditions Governing Access
Access is open to researchers by appointment at the Fashion Institute of Technology Library, Department of Special Collections and FIT Archive. If you have any questions, or wish to schedule an appointment contact us at [email protected] or call (212) 217-4385.
Conditions Governing Use
The Department of Special Collections and FIT Archive does not own copyright for all material held in its physical custody. It is the researcher's obligation to abide by and satisfy copyright law (http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#108) when copying or using materials (including digital materials) found in or made available from the department. When possible, the department will inform a researcher about the copyright status of material, the researcher's obligations with regard to such material, and, wherever possible, the owner or owners of the copyrights. Any and all reproduction of originals is at the archivist's discretion.
Biographical / Historical
Born and raised in suburban Philadelphia, Charlene Fossum became interested in the goth subculture as a fan of the British new wave and synthesizer based music in the 1980s as an avid watcher of MTV. She later became interested in Japanese culture and comics in the late 1980s as well. Fossum attended the School of Visual Arts from 1990 to 1994, earning a BFA in illustration, married in 1996 and came to reside in Brooklyn where she works on various personal projects of embroidered textile art and pointillism illustration.
In 2025, Fossum described her personal experience as a member of the goth subculture: "I possessed unassailable cool in some quarters and utter derision in others as an African American participant of the subculture, dressing in a gothic/ post punk style. I subverted twice, in a way, against the mainstream of both Black and white cultural norms. My collection of periodicals and books grew in real time as a contemporary fan of music and culture and a bit later sought out and purchased as a curiosity to look back, learn more, to consider just why that dark culture was so appealing to me. It still informs my life and aesthetic choices to the present day even as my day to day clothes are far less extravagant."
Full Extent
1 placeholder : 74 items including: 12 books; 6 catalogs; 53 magazine issues; 2 manga; 1 pin
Arrangement
Items have been roughly organized into two categories, American and Japanese subculture, however there are crossovers between them.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Most items in this collection are bound periodical issues or books and are clearly dated or numbered.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated to Special Collections by Charlene Fossum in January, 2025.
General
Periodicals need to be rehoused in such a way that better protects their binding.
General
Born and raised in suburban Philadelphia, Charlene Fossum became interested in the goth subculture as a fan of the British new wave and synthesizer based music in the 1980s as an avid watcher of MTV. She later became interested in Japanese culture and comics in the late 1980s as well. Fossum attended the School of Visual Arts from 1990 to 1994, earning a BFA in illustration, married in 1996 and came to reside in Brooklyn where she works on various personal projects of embroidered textile art and pointillism illustration.
In 2025, Fossum described her personal experience as a member of the goth subculture: "I possessed unassailable cool in some quarters and utter derision in others as an African American participant of the subculture, dressing in a gothic/ post punk style. I subverted twice, in a way, against the mainstream of both Black and white cultural norms. My collection of periodicals and books grew in real time as a contemporary fan of music and culture and a bit later sought out and purchased as a curiosity to look back, learn more, to consider just why that dark culture was so appealing to me. It still informs my life and aesthetic choices to the present day even as my day to day clothes are far less extravagant."
General
Published
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- Charlene Fossum collection of subculture publications
- Date
- 2025-01-23
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections and FIT Archive Repository