Jenny Leigh Du Puis ’22 is a PhD student in Apparel Design, whose research is focused on safety and function attire for the extreme physical performance of circus arts.  Jenny Leigh has experience as a costume designer and technician for multiple circus organizations, including Cirque Us, Circus Culture, Circus Couture, Circus Smirkus, Cirque du Soleil’s KÀ, and freelance performer clients.  She has also worked as a costume technician for musical theater including the 2006-2007 international touring production of Hairspray!, and the Las Vegas-based productions of Spamalot and Rock of Ages.

Since joining FSAD in the fall of 2018, Jenny Leigh has received many honors.  Among those are the Outstanding Beginning Doctoral Student Marjorie Joseph Fellowship (2019) and the Outstanding Graduate Student in the Study of Historic Textiles or Costume Robert C. Hillestad Fellowship (2020) from the International Textile and Apparel Association.  For her design work during the coronavirus pandemic, she won 1st Place (co-designer with Katarina Goodge) in the “FSAD to the Rescue” Mask Design Competition (2020), as well as receiving 1st Place in the Best Formal Mask Category and a Top 6 in the Mask Maker’s Choice Category in the Coney Island “Make a Funny Face” Mask Design Contest (2020).
 
Most recently, Jenny Leigh and Kim Phoenix, lecturer in FSAD, created an oversized mask for Touchdown, Cornell’s mascot, to be worn in promotional videos and publications.