This website is under extensive renovation, and will be up and running soon.
For now, please see the biography below for information on Jenny Leigh's research and professional background.
Please check back soon for site updates, or contact
Jenny Leigh via email with any inquiries.
For now, please see the biography below for information on Jenny Leigh's research and professional background.
Please check back soon for site updates, or contact
Jenny Leigh via email with any inquiries.
Jenny Leigh Du Puis is a PhD Candidate in Apparel Design at Cornell University, where she is combining her extensive professional career as a circus and theatrical costume designer and technician with her formal training in functional apparel design. Her dissertation research centers on the safety and function of attire worn for the extreme physical performance of circus arts, and uses mixed methods and design research practices to explore the history of circus costume, investigate the clothing designed and worn for today's circus performances, and develop ways to improve training clothes for the circus artists of tomorrow.
Jenny Leigh has worked with such companies and organizations as Cirque Us, Circus Smirkus, Circus Couture, Circus Culture, and Cirque du Soleil's KÀ, as well as the Las Vegas productions of Monty Python's Spamalot and Rock of Ages, and the 2007 touring production of Hairspray! The Musical. She has designed costumes and accessories for many philanthropic organizations and events, most recently including hundreds of fabric N95 mask covers for Cure 4 the Kids in Las Vegas and an ICU in Houston.
Besides her dissertation studies, her current research projects include fit and function in children's cloth face masks and an ongoing role as apparel designer and technician for an interdisciplinary group researching flexible fiber optic sensors in sports apparel. She has experience as a Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant for both in-person and virtual projects and undergraduate classes.
Jenny Leigh is a dedicated team member with strong leadership capabilities, and excels in the development and execution of projects with particular strengths in writing and application of theory, models, and frameworks. Additional skillsets include interviewing and moderating panel discussions, and project management for large-scale in-person and virtual events.
Her research interests include functional apparel design, practice-led and practice-based design research, performance costume history, wearable electronics, the integration of contemporary technologies with traditional handcraft techniques, auto- and ethnographic study of the circus community, and socio-cultural studies of dress.
Jenny Leigh has worked with such companies and organizations as Cirque Us, Circus Smirkus, Circus Couture, Circus Culture, and Cirque du Soleil's KÀ, as well as the Las Vegas productions of Monty Python's Spamalot and Rock of Ages, and the 2007 touring production of Hairspray! The Musical. She has designed costumes and accessories for many philanthropic organizations and events, most recently including hundreds of fabric N95 mask covers for Cure 4 the Kids in Las Vegas and an ICU in Houston.
Besides her dissertation studies, her current research projects include fit and function in children's cloth face masks and an ongoing role as apparel designer and technician for an interdisciplinary group researching flexible fiber optic sensors in sports apparel. She has experience as a Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant for both in-person and virtual projects and undergraduate classes.
Jenny Leigh is a dedicated team member with strong leadership capabilities, and excels in the development and execution of projects with particular strengths in writing and application of theory, models, and frameworks. Additional skillsets include interviewing and moderating panel discussions, and project management for large-scale in-person and virtual events.
Her research interests include functional apparel design, practice-led and practice-based design research, performance costume history, wearable electronics, the integration of contemporary technologies with traditional handcraft techniques, auto- and ethnographic study of the circus community, and socio-cultural studies of dress.