• Duration

    6 weeks

  • Session Dates

    September 20–October 25, 2025

  • Meeting Days & Times

    Saturdays, 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm ET

  • Format

    Online, Live

    Fashion and Race

    This 6-week course will investigate the ways that the construct of race has shaped design, aesthetics, worldviews, and industry practices. Classic and contemporary texts, along with an examination of media imagery present in film, fashion editorials, consumer advertising, pop culture and social media will identify and address the complications of “fashion and race” today. 

    Image caption: “African American woman, three-quarter length portrait, seated with left arm over back of chair, facing front.” Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963, collector. 1899 or 1900.

    What You'll Gain:

    Students in this course will come away with a deeper understanding of the intersection of fashion, race, and power and will critically address historical and socially accepted standards within the fashion system. 

    • A deeper understanding of foundational theories and systemic issues regarding fashion, race, and power
    • Developed fluency in critical thinking and writing skills that address fashion and race in a cogent manner
    • Developed familiarity with research methodologies used to reframe or rethink fashion history and dominant narratives
    • Recognize and problematize existing media imagery and design output, challenging the fashion system (particularly the business of fashion) today

    Modules

    This course involves weekly assigned readings/media, discussions, and occasional activities. NOTE: This is an abbreviated version of Kimberly Jenkins's signature 12-week course.

    • 1. Introduction to the course and the construct of race
      2. ‘Representation’ and Fashioning the Other
      3. Navigating Race: Passing, Performance and Pride 
      4. Cultural appropriation, appreciation and ownership
      5. Decentralizing Fashion History
      6. How the business of fashion deals with race: Beauty, Publishing and Retail

    Meet your Instructor

    Kimberly M. Jenkins, M.A.

    About
    Kimberly M. Jenkins is a fashion studies scholar and educator with 15 years of experience in the fashion system, lecturing on the full spectrum of fashion history, the nuances of fashion theory and culture, and advanced research methods for designers. She has taught at renowned institutions, partnered with globally recognized companies, and established her own academic businesses, Artis Solomon and The Fashion and Race Database®. She holds a BA in Cultural Anthropology and Art History from the University of Texas at Arlington and an MA in Fashion Studies from Parsons School of Design.

    Read her full bio.
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