Based in New York with a background in cultural anthropology, art history and fashion studies, Kimberly M. Jenkins is the Founder, Director and Principal Researcher of The Fashion and Race Database, a one-of-a kind learning platform about fashion and race, as well as the consultancy Artis Solomon, which provides bespoke research and insight about fashion history and theory.

Kim held the role of Part-Time Lecturer at Parsons School of Design and Visiting Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute in New York for seven years, and for two years, she was an Assistant Professor of Fashion Studies at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) in Canada before making the decision to take her work private.

Kim is best known for creating and running the course, Fashion and Race, at Parsons, and for working as an education consultant for Gucci (Milan and Hong Kong) to support their efforts on cultural awareness. In 2018, Kim was nominated for the “Distinguished Teaching” award, and won the award for “Outstanding Achievements in Social Justice Teaching” at The New School. As an undergrad, Kim won the student award for “Outstanding Contribution to Anthropology” at the University of Texas at Arlington, and as a grad student she won the award for “Outstanding Contributions to the Fashion Studies Program” at Parsons School of Design, The New School.

In addition to teaching her own courses, Kim has presented guest lectures and spoken at Harvard University, The Fashion Institute of Technology, Aalto University, Parsons School of Design in Paris, UCLA, Loyola University, Georgetown University, Queen’s University, Seton Hall University, Columbia University, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cummer Museum, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art, to name a few.

Kim has expanded her academic work into creative projects and civic programming. In 2022, she partnered with Tommy Hilfiger to host and co-produce their very first podcast, The Invisible Seam: Unsung Stories of Black Culture and Fashion. In 2018, she curated her first exhibition, Fashion and Race: Deconstructing Ideas, Reconstructing Identities at the Arnold & Sheila Aronson Gallery at Parsons School of Design, and in May 2020, the Fashion and Race exhibition returned in permanent, virtual form on the Google Arts & Culture platform. In 2020, she co-curated the exhibition, Rainbow Shoe Repair: An Unexpected Theater of Flyness at the Abrons Art Center.

Her work in the classroom has also crossed over into think tanks and public forums, being invited to speak at SXSW, Google HQ, the Brooklyn Public Library, the Brooklyn Museum and WGBH Boston’s live show, The Curiosity Desk. Kim also facilitates a traveling lecture series called ‘The Fashion & Justice Workshop’ with her dear friend and collaborator, Dr. Jonathan M. Square (Harvard University, The New School).

Kim’s expertise has been called upon by numerous websites and publications, including Vogue Business, The Business of Fashion, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and W magazine. Her work as an educator has been profiled by Vogue, The Guardian, DAZED, i-D, The Washington Post, NYLON, The Saturday Paper, Refinery29, Fashionista, CR, GRAZIA and The Root (among others). Her academic research and writing has been published in FOAM, QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking, International Journal of Fashion Studies, The Fashion Studies Journal, Art Jewelry Forum and she sits on select advisory boards in the art and fashion community.

Kim was born in Detroit, Michigan and raised in Trophy Club, Texas. Amongst her favorite hobbies, she enjoys organizing, designing and vintage shopping– she collects Bonnie Cashin pieces.