Kim Jenkins specializes in the sociocultural and historical influences behind why we wear what we wear, specifically addressing how politics, psychology, race and gender shapes the way we ‘fashion’ our identity. Based in New York, she is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute, Part-time Lecturer at Parsons School of Design and amongst the pioneering cohort of graduates from the MA Fashion Studies program at Parsons. In Fall 2016, Kim debuted the undergraduate course “Fashion and Race” at Parsons, examining the implications of the social construct of race in fashion history, business and image-making.
Kim has presented guest lectures at The New School, The Fashion Institute of Technology, Ryerson University and is the host of “Fashion Talks” at Pratt Institute. In collaboration with her colleague Jonathan Michael Square, Kim hosts a traveling workshop entitled, “Fashion & Justice,” and is the 2017-2018 grant recipient of The New School's Innovation in Education Fund for her proposed project, "Fashion and Race: Mapping a Decentralized Approach to Fashion History and Design Practice." This October she will present her first exhibition at The New School’s Aronson Gallery, entitled, “Fashion and Race: Deconstructing Ideas, Reconstructing Identities.” Kim's service to the fashion system includes her involvement as Co-Chair of the fashion curriculum committee at Pratt Institute and as an advisory board member for The Model Alliance and the Inclusive Pedagogy Scholars Program at Pratt Institute. This year, Kim was nominated for the "Distinguished University Teaching Award" and on May 18th she will receive the “Faculty Award for Outstanding Achievement in Diversity and Social Justice Teaching" at The New School’s commencement ceremony.
