Dr. Elizabeth Lundén is an award-winning scholar whose expertise lies at the intersection of fashion and culture industries. Her research investigates the historical connections between Hollywood and the fashion industry, highlighting how the American film sector has influenced the globalization of fashion through practices such as public relations, advertising, and marketing, thereby shaping consumer behavior and expanding Hollywood’s cultural influence. Lundén's work is situated where fashion, celebrity, and corporate strategy meet, offering insights into how entertainment industries function as engines of branding and soft power. Through meticulous archival research and transdisciplinary analysis, she examines how institutional narratives permeated popular culture, shaping social trends and reinforcing the United States’ standing as a global influence in consumer throughout the 20th century.

In 2025, she became a Kluge Research Fellow at the Library of Congress, where she continues her exploration of fashion in newsreels. Lundén has received several research grants and fellowships, including the Fulbright Scholars Grant, American Scandinavian Foundation and the Swedish–American Foundation Fellowships. Her most recent publication, Fashion on the Red Carpet: A History of the Oscars, Fashion, and Globalisation (Edinburgh University Press, 2021 examines the transformation of the Academy Awards’ red carpet from a ceremonial tradition into a prominent fashion media event. The book illustrates how collaborations between Hollywood and fashion institutions, propelled by PR campaigns and media coverage, helped establish the red carpet as a prominent platform for global fashion discourse.

In 2024, Lundén was awarded the Rettig Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, and Antiquities for her research on the fashion industry, the impact film as a medium, and her contributions to cultural and social analysis The Academy acknowledged her scholarship as “fundamental to the subject’s identity” and commended its “wealth perspective and insight” into the potential of fashion studies. (Kungl. Vitterakademin 2024)