Jenny Du Puis

Biography

Jenny Leigh Du Puis is an Assistant Professor of Product Development and Fashion Design in the department of Fashion Studies where she teaches courses in patternmaking and garment construction and oversees the Making section of the senior fashion BFA. She is a functional apparel designer specializing in extreme physical performance and a professional circus costume designer, technician, and scholar. Jenny Leigh has published in academic journals on the topic of face mask fit and function, fashion curation, and circus costume, and has acted as guest speaker, visiting artist, or panelist for institutions including The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Florida State University’s Museum of Fine Arts, and the Costume Society of America’s Conversations on Dress series.

As a circus costume designer and technician, she has worked with such productions and companies as Circus Smirkus, Circus Culture, Circus Couture, Sunset Circus, Cirque Us, Circus Juventas, and Cirque du Soleil’s KÀ. Her scholarly work in the field of circus includes archival research, exhibition curation, presentations at conferences including the American Circus Educator’s EdCon and the Circus Historical Society’s annual symposium. She is presently working as a co-editor on a multivolume series through publisher Routledge on the topic of historical circus, and has upcoming presentations for the circus community in the fall of 2023. Jenny Leigh’s educational background includes a BS in Fashion Design & Production from Lasell University, MS from Auburn University in Consumer and Design Sciences, Apparel Design, and she is a PhD Candidate in Apparel Design at Cornell University.

Degrees

B.S., Fashion Design and Production Lasell University 2006
M.S., Consumer & Design Sciences Auburn University 2018