Staff Profile
Reader and Deputy Head (Fashion)
Jo is currently Reader and Deputy Head at the Manchester Fashion Institute. Prior to joining Manchester Met. full time in 2011 Jo was a practising designer working with many international brands, within diverse industry sectors, from commercial large-scale corporations to high end bespoke design.
As a cross-disciplinary researcher, Jo is in interested in challenging how fashion is perceived as a subject, industry, method, mindset, and force for good. A first generation student who found her way into Higher Education through her love of Fashion, Jo views Fashion as an enabler, a gateway into lifelong learning, and is committed to making Fashion education both accessible and aspirational.
Academic and professional qualifications
Jo graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in 1993 with a 1st class degree in BA (Hons) Fashion Design & Technology. She has since gained her PGCert in Academic Practice and was awarded Senior Fellow status with the HEA in 2019. Jo is currently working towards a Ph.D.
Previous Employment
Since joining Manchester Met in 2006 Jo has been Programme Leader for both BA (Hons) Fashion and BA (Hons) Fashion Design & Technology, and Section Head for Design in the Manchester Fashion Institute. She also has over 20 years international industry experience including senior design positions with River Island, Ted Baker, Levis, Dockers and Denham. In 2004 Jo established a luxury unisex brand, Avelon, that sold globally into stores including Liberty London and Jeffrey New York.
External examiner roles
Recent External Examiner roles include;
Nottingham Trent University, PG Fashion. 2020 - date.
Falmouth University, Sportswear. 2020 - date.
Amsterdam Fashion Institute, Amsterdam, Fashion Design. 2017 - 2020.
National College of Art and Design, Dublin, BA (Hons) Fashion. 2016 - 2019.
De Montford University, Leicester, BA (Hons) Contour Fashion. 2013 - 2017.
Jo has also been an external academic advisor for the London College Fashion, Bath Spa University and Southampton Solent University.
Projects and initiatives
Locating Menswear is an AHRC funded international network investigating the cultural and industrial connections between London, Liverpool, Manchester, and Milan, Italy, and how they have influenced the production, display, and consumption of British menswear. It is led by Professor Andrew Groves, Director of the Westminster Menswear Archive (PI), and Jo Jenkinson from Manchester Metropolitan University (CI).
The Portrait Youth project documents the personal and collective identities of diverse groups of young people through portrait photography. The project invites young people from Greater Manchester to take part in creative 'wear your identity' workshops that explore the communication of identity through fashion, styling and dress.
National Fashion and Business Saturday Club
The Fashion and Business Saturday club at Manchester Metropolitan University was set up with support from the British Fashion Council and the National Saturday Club. The club provides an opportunity for 13 -16 year olds to learn about diverse aspects of the fashion industry in a University setting, on a Saturday morning.
Government and industry links
Through her work with the British Fashion Council, as a member of education steering committee, Jo regularly contributes to round table discussions on education policy and practices.
Prizes and awards
Jo & colleague Kelly Joseph were awarded the best presentation award for their paper ‘I wear what I want to wear’: Youth, style and identity at the fashion and business Saturday club.’ at the IFFTI Fashion: ID. conference in 2019.
Membership of professional associations
The Higher Education Authority, Senior Fellow (SFHEA).
British Fashion Council, Colleges Council steering committee member.
Fashion and Textile Colleges Association (FTC), commitee member.
Research
Research Interests
Jo’s research spans fashion, dress, gender and youth, published works have covered unisex fashion, methods for exploring the lived experience of women in post-war youth culture and the relationship between youth, style and identity. Much of this research is the result of collaborative partnerships and participatory youth projects she has instigated such as Portrait Youth. Jo is working towards a Ph.D., investigating memories of youth through the lens of music and dress and is currently CI on the AHRC funded network Locating Menswear.
Jo is a member of the Manchester School of Art Research Centre (MSARC) and an associate member of the Manchester Centre for Youth Studies (MCYS).
Academic collaborations
2022 to date Locating Menswear with Professor Andrew Groves, Director of the Westminster Menswear Archive, C.P. Company, Sevenstore, British Fashion Council, UKFT. Funded by the AHRC.
2017 to date Portrait Youth with co-founder John Earnshaw, Zoe Hitchen, GMCA, Central Library, Manchester Youth Council, Design Manchester, Grange School, Manchester Art Gallery, Amy Gwatkin, Deborah Jump, MCYS, Getting out for Good, Megan Powell, The Proud Trust, Heather Glazzard, Jack Arts, Reclaiming the Narrative, The British Muslim Heritage Centre, Maryam Wahid, Blackburn Youth Zone, C.P. Company, The British Textile Biennial, The Westminster Menswear Archive, Professor Andrew Groves, Neil Bedford, Richard Kelly.
2017 Identi-Tee with Hannah Smithson, Zoe Hitchen, Kelly Joseph, Rebecca Neary, MCYS, ESRC, The Childrens Society.
Invited Discussions
2019 Labelling Ourselves? Fashion, Gender and Social Identity, HOME, Manchester.
Conference organisation
2022 Conference Committee, Futurescan 5, University of Leeds.
2019 Conference Committee, IFFTI, Manchester.
Exhibitions
Jenkinson, J., Khan, F., Earnshaw, J., Kettle, A., Wahid, M., 2022. Reclaiming the Narrative: Portrait Youth, British Muslim Heritage Centre, 22/10/2022 - 27/10/2022.
Jenkinson, J., Earnshaw, J., Kelly, R., 2022. Portrait Youth x Dandy Style, Manchester Art Gallery, 7/10/2022 - 1/5/2023.
Groves, A., Jenkinson, J., Earnshaw, J., Bedford, N., 2022. Through A Lens, Nexus, Leeds University, 7/9/2022 - 8/9/2022.
Jenkinson, J., Earnshaw, J., Groves, A., Bedford, N., 2021. Portrait Youth x C.P. Company, Blackburn and Darwen, 30/9/2021 - 10/10/2021.
Jenkinson, J., Earnshaw, J., Glazzard, H., 2019. Portrait Youth x The Proud Trust, KAMPUS, 21/8/2019 - 11/9/2019.
Jenkinson, J., Earnshaw, J., Powell, M., 2019. Portrait Youth x Getting Out for Good, Manchester Metropolitan University, 26/6/2019 - 1/11/2019.
Jenkinson, J., Earnshaw, J., Gwatkin, A., 2019. Portrait Youth: Wearing Identity, IFFTI Conference. Fashion: ID. Manchester Metropolitan University and Manchester Art Gallery., 30/3/2019 - 7/7/2019.
Jenkinson, J., Earnshaw, J., Hitchen, Z., 2018. Portrait Youth X Fashion:ID - Youth Transforming, Bunka Fashion College, Japan., 17/5/2018.
Jenkinson, J., Earnshaw, J., Hitchen, Z., 2017. Portrait Youth, Central Library, Manchester, 7/10/2017 - 30/11/2017.
Book Chapters
Jenkinson, J., 2023. 'Wardrobes and Soundtracks'. In Slater, A., Atkin, S., Kealy-Morris, E. (eds.) Memories of Dress, pp. 99-116, Bloomsbury Visual Arts.
Jenkinson, JK., 2017. 'Unisex Fashion'. In Eicher, JB., Tortora, PG. (eds.) Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, Bloomsbury Publishing.
Journal Articles
Jenkinson, J., 2020. ''Wear your identity': Styling identities of youth through dress ‐ A conceptual model', Fashion, Style & Popular Culture, 7 (1), pp. 73-99.
Non-Peer Reviewed Articles
Jenkinson, J., 2018. 'Cultures of Youth: New narratives of style and identity', Document 17, pp. 44-49.
Conference Papers
Jenkinson, J., Kelly, R., Earnshaw, J., 2023. 'Dandy Style and Portrait Youth', 49th Annual Costume Society of America Symposium, Salt Lake City, Utah, 23/5/2023 - 27/5/2023.
Groves, A., Jenkinson, J., Earnshaw, J., 2022. 'Through a Lens – A comparison of contested masculine identities as reflected in clothing, place, and portraiture.', Futurescan 5, Leeds University, 7/9/2022 - 8/9/2022.
Jenkinson, J., Joseph, K., 2019. '‘I wear what I want to wear’: Youth, style and identity at the fashion and business Saturday club.', IFFTI Fashion: ID, Manchester Metropolitan University, 8/4/2019 - 12/4/2019, in https://fashioninstitute.mmu.ac.uk/ifftipapers/paper-138/.
Jenkinson, JK., 2015. 'Dress, Music, Gender and Emotion: Methods for exploring lived experience of women in post-war youth culture.', Fashion and Gender Symposium, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1/5/2015 - 2/5/2015, in Conference Proceedings. Edited by Kim.K.P.Johnson, pp. 18-19.
Presentations
Jenkinson, J., 2021. 'Portrait Youth: Documenting narratives of youth through styling and dress.', Human Stories of Dress Series, The Sartorial Society (online).
Academia
Office Location
Room RG.07
Righton Building
Manchester Fashion Institute
Manchester Metropolitan University
Cavendish Street
Manchester M15 6BG
Office Hours
Available for drop in on MS Teams, Wednesday mornings, 9.00-11.00am during term time. Or email for an appointment.