Jade Halbert

Dr Jade Halbert is a Lecturer in Design Studies at the School of Design, University of Leeds, within the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures. She teaches design history, theory, and research methods across undergraduate and postgraduate programs while supervising research projects in her specialized fields.

Her academic background includes:

• PhD in History from the University of Glasgow (2018)
• MLitt in Dress and Textile Histories from the University of Glasgow
• BA (Hons) Fashion Promotion (journalism) from the London College of Fashion

Her research centers on unwritten histories of making in fashion and costume through oral histories and first-hand accounts from workrooms and factories. She investigates manual expertise transmission across contexts ranging from haute couture and hand-knitting to mass production and black markets, with emphasis on British fashion history and cultural economies. Her ESRC-funded PhD recontextualized post-war British fashion using Marion Donaldson's business as a case study, while subsequent award-winning work examined 1960s Scottish knitting networks and amateur retail systems.

Dr Halbert received significant recognition as an AHRC/BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker (2019-2020), producing BBC Radio 3 features including 'The Endless Demise of the High Street' and The Essay episodes 'Not Quite Jean Muir' and 'Drama, Dressing-up, and Droopy & Browns'. She co-edits major scholarly volumes such as 'Disseminating Dress: Britain’s Fashion Networks, 1600–1970' (Bloomsbury, 2022) and 'Everyday Fashion: Interpreting British Clothing Since 1600' (Bloomsbury, 2023).

She currently supervises postgraduate researcher Alex Clayden and serves as Co-Investigator on the £208,265 AHRC project 'Constructing Costume Histories' (AH/X011259/1, 2023-2027), collaborating with Royal Opera House, Cosprop Film Costumiers, Leeds Playhouse, Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, and School of Historical Dress to document Britain's costume-making heritage.

This groundbreaking project creates the first audio-visual archive of British costume production, developing a specialized lexicon for costume making and producing an edited collection centered on workroom perspectives rather than designers or actors, illuminating the craft behind iconic pieces like Mr. Darcy's Pride and Prejudice shirt.