AMST 340: Bad Bunny — Fashion Revolts

Fall 2026 · Dr. Francisco J. Galarte · Tu/Th 12:30–1:45 PM · University of New Mexico

What Is This Course?

Fashion Revolts uses Bad Bunny (Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) — his evolving style, música urbana, and public persona — as a sustained case study in cultural studies and critical theory.

We trace how race, gender, sexuality, coloniality, and the body have shaped fashion from his early streetwear aesthetic to his genre-defying red-carpet and tour looks.

Why Bad Bunny?

From Bagger to Met Gala

From supermarket bagger in Vega Baja to Met Gala headliner — one of the most documented style arcs in contemporary pop culture.

A Window Into Power & Resistance

His looks, videos, and controversies offer a direct window into race, gender transgression, Puerto Rican resistance, and the global fashion industry.

Theory Meets Case Study

Each unit pairs a foundational fashion-studies reading with a specific Bad Bunny moment — theory and case study inform each other throughout.

Course Objectives

01

Fashion Studies as a Field

Introduce fashion studies as an interdisciplinary field grounded in cultural studies and critical theory.

02

Latin Urbano in Context

Situate reggaetón fashion within histories of Puerto Rican colonialism, Afro-Caribbean expression, and diaspora.

03

Critical AI Literacy

Assess bias in AI-generated imagery; develop prompt-writing and iterative design skills.

04

Collaborative Design

Build public-facing presentation skills through the Fashion House / Look Lab structure.

Required Texts

P FKN R

Díaz & Rivera-Rideau — How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance (Duke UP, 2026). The course's central secondary text.

Puerto Rico: A National History

Meléndez-Badillo (Princeton UP, 2024) — available on Perusall; chapters connect directly to Bad Bunny's album DeBí TiRAR Más FOTOS.

Bad Bunny Syllabus

Free companion resource at badbunnysyllabus.com — annotated lyrics, listening playlist, and topic modules that parallel course units.

Chapter

Assignments & Grading

How your work is structured, evaluated, and brought to life.

How Your Grade Breaks Down

The Big Picture

The final project dominates the grade — The Look Lab (30%) plus The Show presentation (10%) together account for 40% of your grade. Showing up and participating (20%) is the next largest lever.

  • Look Lab: 30%
  • Attendance & Participation: 20%
  • Midterm: 15%
  • Annotations + Labs: 20%
  • Presentation + Responses: 15%

Reading Annotations (10%)

How It Works

  • Annotated weekly in Perusall — minimum 3 substantive annotations per reading, including at least 1 reply to a classmate
  • Annotations must be tied to specific passages: close-reading a claim, connecting it to a Bad Bunny look, raising a genuine question, or pushing back on the author

AI Skill-Building Labs (10%)

1

Lab 1 — Prompt Basics

Wk 2 · Compare Gemini vs. ChatGPT on the same prompt; reflect on default visual assumptions. Due 8/31

2

Lab 2 — Bias Audit

Wk 6 · Prompt AI with "urban style," "reggaetón fashion," "Latino streetwear" — analyze stereotypes and erasure. Due 9/28

3

Lab 3 — Gendering the Prompt

Wk 10 · Generate the same look with gendered vs. gender-neutral language; compare outputs. Due 10/26

4

Lab 4 — Iteration Lab

Wk 12 · Five rounds of prompt refinement — direct rehearsal for the Look Lab Prompt Log. Due 11/9

5

Lab 5 — Embodiment Audit

Wk 13 · Test how AI renders plus-size, disabled, and dark-skinned figures in high-fashion looks. Due 11/16

Final Project: The Look Lab (30%)

Fashion Houses

Form a house of 4 students in Week 9. Each house develops one unifying concept; each member designs one AI-generated look.

Group Deliverables

Collection Concept (due 10/19), Collection Lookbook, and The Show (Dec. 1)

Individual Deliverables

Prompt Log, 3–5 final AI-generated images, Digital Essay (1,500–2,000 words), and Peer Contribution Form

The Show — Final Presentation (10%)

Two Events. One Finale.

Opt-in houses submit one Bad Bunny track tied to their collection's theoretical lens, played during their segment.

1

Dec. 1 — In-Class Show

Each Fashion House stages a short runway show, peer-evaluated on collection cohesion and individual contribution.

2

Dec. 3 — Public Show

UNM ARTSLab Black Box Studio, 5:00–6:30 PM — opt-in event with a DJ, large-format printed looks, and a reception.

Chapter

Weekly Schedule

Sixteen weeks. Six thematic units. One sustained argument about fashion, power, and resistance.

Unit 1: Foundations (Weeks 1–2)

1

Week 1 — What Is Fashion?

Syllabus + Bad Bunny style timeline screening (2016–present). Set up Milanote mood board. Recommended: Schorske, "It's Bad Bunny's World Now," NYT Magazine (2020)

2

Week 2 — How to Analyze Fashion

Kaiser, Fashion and Cultural Studies, Ch. 1. Student-selected close-read of a Bad Bunny magazine cover using Kaiser's framework. AI Lab 1 due 8/31

Unit 2: Production & Coloniality (Weeks 3–4)

Week 3 — Racial Capitalism & Caribbean Coloniality

Beckert, Empire of Cotton Ch. 1; Meléndez-Badillo Chs. 1–2 & 14–15; watch DeBí TiRAR Más FOToS short film; listen to "El Apagón"

Week 4 — Afro-Caribbean Expression I

Kaiser Ch. 2; Meléndez-Badillo Ch. 3; Tego Calderón, "Black Pride." Look of the Week: chains, du-rags, grillz, and tattoos in Bad Bunny's early image (2016–2018)

Unit 3: Race, Appropriation & Class (Weeks 5–7)

Week 5 — Afro-Caribbean Expression II

Miller, Slaves to Fashion; Rivera, "Policing Morality"; Wellington, "Evolution of Hip Hop Style"; P FKN R Ch. 7. Film: Straight Outta Puerto Rico

Week 6 — Racial Politics & Appropriation

Pham, "Racial Plagiarism and Fashion"; P FKN R Ch. 8 (Coachella). AI Lab 2 due 9/28

Week 7 — Class Matters

Kaiser Ch. 6; P FKN R on protest and party. Look: Bad Bunny × Adidas campaign imagery

Week 8: Fall Break & Midterm

Oct. 6 — Review Session

No new readings. Begin brainstorming your Look Lab concept.

Oct. 8 — No Class

Fall Break. Rest, recharge, get inspired.

Midterm Due Oct. 12

Submitted on Canvas — open-book, short-answer and multiple-choice. Covers Weeks 1–7.

Unit 4: Gender & Sexuality (Weeks 9–12)

Week 9 — Fashioning Gender I

Rivera Figueroa on gender performativity; Savage X Fenty runway look. Fashion Houses form; mood boards merge. Collection Concept due 10/19

Week 10 — Fashioning Gender II

P FKN R Ch. 4; "Yo Perreo Sola" (2020). AI Lab 3 due 10/26

Weeks 11–12 — Sexuality with Style

Kaiser Ch. 8; Rivera-Servera on queer choreography; Báez on Ivy Queen. Look: World's Hottest Tour costuming. AI Lab 4 due 11/9

Unit 5: Trans Fashion & Embodiment (Weeks 13–14)

Week 13 — Trans Fashion

Galarte, "Fashion-ing Pedagogies"; La Fountain-Stokes, Translocas; P FKN R Ch. 9.

Case study: Bad Bunny's Tonight Show tribute to Alexa Negrón Luciano.

AI Lab 5 due 11/16

Week 14 — Embodied Dress & Look Lab Workshop

Kaiser Ch. 9; P FKN R on Bad Bunny's global reach. Look: 2023 Calvin Klein campaign. Runway sequencing workshop; final mood board lock-in.

Unit 6: Conclusion (Weeks 15–16)

Thanksgiving Week

No class — dedicated time to work on your Final Project.

Dec. 1 — The Show

All Fashion Houses present their runway collections. Peer-evaluated on cohesion and contribution.

Dec. 3 — Public Show

UNM ARTSLab Black Box Studio, 5:00–6:30 PM (opt-in). Closing reading: Díaz & Rivera-Rideau, "Seguimos Aquí"

Dec. 8 — Final Project Due

Individual Look + Digital Essay + Group Collection Lookbook submitted on Canvas.

Chapter

Resources & Tools

The digital ecosystem powering Fashion Revolts.

Course Digital Tools

Perusall

Weekly reading annotations. Join at

Join Perusall →

Code: GALARTE-QAM92

Milanote

Ongoing visual mood board — individual (Weeks 1–8), then shared by Fashion House (Weeks 9–16). Free plan caps at 100 items per account.

Fashion Revolts Design Look Lab

opal.google

Fashion Revolts Design Lab

Gemini-powered AI assistant built for this course. Generates critical analysis, refined image prompts, and preview images. Link on Canvas.

AI Tools for This Course

Gemini (nano banana Pro) — REQUIRED

Required for all Look Lab final image generation. Native 4K output holds up at large-format print size for the public show.

ChatGPT — Recommended for Labs

Recommended for AI Labs, especially Lab 4 — Iteration Lab. Tracks iterative changes within a conversation more reliably.

Look Lab Assistant Workflow

Draft & iterate in the Assistant → take its refined prompt → run in Gemini for your final print-ready image → log both in your Prompt Log.

The Bad Bunny Syllabus

Your Free Companion Resource

Created by Díaz & Rivera-Rideau alongside P FKN R, the Bad Bunny Syllabus at badbunnysyllabus.com is an essential companion throughout the semester.

  • Topic modules that parallel each course unit
  • A dedicated "El Apagón Microsyllabus"
  • Annotated lyrics database
  • A curated listening playlist

Several Reading Annotations and AI Lab prompts assume you've consulted the relevant module — bookmark it in Week 1.

Why It Matters

This resource bridges the gap between academic theory and Bad Bunny's actual music, making it easier to connect readings to specific tracks, looks, and moments.

badbunnysyllabus.com

Chapter

Course Policies

Expectations, integrity, and community standards for Fashion Revolts.

Attendance & Participation (20%)

Come Prepared

Attend all sessions with 1–2 discussion questions ready. Graded on investment, preparation, openness, risk-taking, and integrity.

Absence Policy

Three or more unexcused absences may result in permanent removal and a course drop.

Mood Board Building

Weekly Mood Board Building (last 10–15 min of most sessions) is credit-bearing participation — the direct scaffolding for your Collection Concept and Lookbook.

AI & Academic Integrity

1

✅ Expected & Disclosed

AI image generation is the assigned method for Look Lab visuals — its use there is fully expected and disclosed.

2

❌ Academic Dishonesty

AI-generated text used to draft Reading Annotations, In-Class Responses, or your Digital Essay without disclosure is academic dishonesty.

3

📋 Prompt Log Only

The Look Lab Assistant's critical analysis belongs in your Prompt Log — it cannot appear as uncited prose in your Digital Essay.

Accommodations & Support

Accessibility

Contact the Accessibility Resource Center at arcsrvs@unm.edu or 505-277-3506 for reasonable accommodations.

Respectful Campus

Confidential support at LoboRESPECT Advocacy Center, Women's Resource Center, and Arcoiris Center. UNM prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, and gender expression.

Content Note

Course material engages colonial violence, sexual content, gender-based harassment, and body politics. Reach out in advance if a particular week raises concerns.

Contact & Office Hours

Professor

Dr. Francisco J. Galarte

Office Hours

By Appointment

Class Time

Tuesday/Thursday 5:00–6:15 PM