• Palgrave Studies in Fashion and the Body | London | co-editor | 2020-09-16 - present
• Journal of Design History | London | Editorial Board Member | 2021-01-28 - present

Ancillary activities are updated daily

Jane Tynan is a cultural historian who holds degrees from Ulster University and University College Dublin. Her PhD, from University of the Arts London, explored the significance of military uniform to the cultural legacy of the First World War. In 2020, she joined Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam from Central Saint Martins in London where she taught history and theory of design and developed the MA Fashion Critical Studies. Now at VU she leads the MA Design Cultures program, teaches on the BA MKDA Design track and also contributes to the new BSc Creative Technology (VU-UT). As well as extensive experience in curriculum design, course development and external examining, she is a Fellow of Advance HE (formerly HE Academy, UK) and has been visiting lecturer at Goldsmiths University of London, Royal College of Art London, University College Dublin and University of Oxford. Having supervised six PhDs to completion she welcomes new graduate students working within her areas of expertise. 

My research lies at the intersection of history, fashion and politics. For me, clothing practices and technologies are critical to the formation of individual and collective identities. My focus on the body (and its histories) considers design's role in shaping modes of citizenship, governance and public trust. A recurring theme in my work has been the political significance of uniform clothing, an embedded social practice critical to the development of policing, military and public service roles in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I have also researched distinctive clothing cultures arising from conflict and political imprisonment. My latest project investigates twentieth century developments in hydrophobic synthetic textiles that transformed expectations of leisure clothing. I am interested in the conceptions of climate that inform the process of designing clothing for the outdoors. Cultural imaginaries of (dis)comfort and (in)security have enabled technology transfer from military to civilian settings and continue to direct energy and material flows in the fashion/apparel industry. This research highlights the complex relationship between politics, materials, weathering, fashion and bodies.

My research has reached wider audiences through blogs (The Conversation, RTÉ Brainstorm), TV and radio interviews (BBC UK, ABC Australia) podcast interviews (New Books Podcast), articles (Selvedge Magazine, BBC History Magazine) and media communications (The Independent, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, BBC News, CNN, Middle East Eye, National Geographic). I have served as peer reviewer for various publishers and journals, including Critical Military Studies, Cultural History, Journal of Material Culture, Fashion Theory, Textile, International Journal of Fashion Studies and Technology & Culture. In addition, I co-edit the book series Palgrave Studies in Fashion and the Body and sit on the editorial board of the Journal of Design History.