Therèsa Winge

winge@msu.edu
(517) 353-3938

217 Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture Building
375 Wilson Rd
East Lansing, MI 48824

FacultyArt, Art History, and Design

Professor
Apparel & Textile Design

Biography

Therèsa M. Winge is an Associate Professor in Apparel and Textile Design, in the Art, Art History, and Design department, and an affiliate faculty in Asian Studies at Michigan State University. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Fashion Design with an additional emphasis in Graphic Design; Master of Liberal Studies degree with a multidisciplinary emphasis in Quantum Physics, Dress Studies, and Youth Studies; and Doctorate in Philosophy in Dress Studies from the University of Minnesota.

Common throughout her research, Winge focuses on the construction/deconstruction of visual and material cultures, dress, and narratives. Her research examines subcultural dress and popular culture fashions and costumes for their meanings and construction of identity, which informs and inspires her designs. Her research has been presented at international conferences and is published in journals, book chapters, and books. Her first book Body Style (2012) is about subcultural body modifications, and her second book Costuming Cosplay: Dressing the Imagination (2018) focuses on Cosplayers and their dress.

Within her creative scholarship and designs, Winge is inspired by visual messages common in popular culture, subcultures, and streetwear. She frequently incorporates visual messaging common in popular culture and subcultures into her designs. Winge is also drawn to STEM/STEAM methodologies: theoretical physics, mathematics, and spatial geometry, as well as innovations in technology to guide her creative process and designs. She explores these inspirations within current designs by using experimental and sustainable patterning methods (e.g., zero waste, transformational reconstruction, and laser cutting) and novel technologies (e.g., fiber optic fabric, conductive fibers, illumination, and 3D modeling and printing).

She practices slow-design as a means of holistically assessing the impact of her designs from sustainable to aesthetic, which provides a means of examining her design process and how it evolves with/within each new design. Winge often seeks to extend or manipulate the body’s natural silhouette with innovative patterning and/or draping techniques that rely on spatial geometry. She also enjoys the experimentation and exploration of the possibilities with various materials, as well as the ways material choices impact aesthetics. Winge’s award winning designs are shown internationally in fashion shows, exhibitions, galleries, and museums.

Winge frequently serves as a juror for arts and design exhibitions and competitions. She has a strong commitment to mentoring artists and designers, as well as academics in their career goals. She also professionally serves as the Co-Director for the Dress and Body Association and on the editorial board for the Clothing Cultures journal.

Winge teaches upper division design courses in the Apparel and Textile Design degrees (Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts) at Michigan State University. Her teaching focuses on STEM/STEAM technology-driven design, as well as slow-design as a practice of meditation and stress-release within a sustainable design process. Winge draws on these distinct methodological practices to better understand and practice individual design processes and experiment with innovative design methodologies and outcomes.

Media Mentions

Courses

ATD 325 Design by Draping

ATD 335 Design Development and Presentation

ATD 423 Design Methods and Approaches

ATD 424 Specialized Design

ATD 426 History of Dress and Textiles

ATD 430 Dress, Culture, and Human Behavior

ATD 431 Global Context for Sustainable Design

ATD 439 Portfolio Development and Exhibition (Senior Capstone)

Publications

Winge, T.M. (2020). Street Styles Serenade. In J. I. Ross (Ed.), Routledge Handbook of Street Culture, 310-22. London: Taylor & Francis. [chapter]

Nurse, A. and Winge, T.M. (2020). Racialized Representations of Black Actresses: Power, Position, and Politics of the Mediated Black Woman. Black Popular Culture special issue in Popular Culture Studies Journal, Vol 8(1), 104-120. [journal article]

Winge, T.M. (2019). Costuming Cosplay: Dressing the Imagination. Oxford: Bloomsbury Publishers. [book]

Winge, T.M. (2018). Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Dressed in Street Fashions?: Investigating Virtually Constructed Fashion Subcultures. In S. Holland (Ed.), Subcultures, Bodies and Spaces: Essays on Alternativity & Marginalisation,13-26. Emerald Publishing.

Winge, T.M. (2012). Body Style. Subcultural Style Book Series. Oxford: Berg. [book]

Winge, T.M. (2008). “Green is the New Black:” Celebrity Chic and the “Green” Commodity Fetish. Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body and Culture, Vol. 12 (4), 511-523. Oxford: Berg Publishers. [article]

Winge, T.M. (2006). Costuming the Imagination: Origins of Anime and Manga Cosplay. Mechademia: An Annual Forum for Anime, Manga and Fan Arts, Vol. 1, 65-77. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. [article]

University News

College Celebrates Accomplishments of 2023 Promoted Faculty
Published September 20, 2023 in College of Arts & Letters
Outdoor clock tower.
This year, 20 faculty members within the College of Arts & Letters have received promotions. The success of these individuals was celebrated during the 2023 Faculty and Staff…Read now »
Responding to COVID-19 with Innovation and Compassion
Published July 23, 2020 in College of Arts & Letters
stacks of homemade masks
For the past several months, MSU’s Apparel and Textile Design (ATD) faculty, alumni, and students have used their skills and contributed their time in the fight against COVID-19 by…Read now »
Student Designing Her Future One Fashion Show at a Time
Published March 25, 2019 in College of Arts & Letters
Photo of people walking down a runway with one smiling at the audience
Apparel and Textile Design senior Mikayla Frick has participated in several fashion shows and recently showcased her collection at STYLEWEEK Northeast (SWNE), New England’s premier fashion…Read now »
Student Participates in Kansas City Fashion Week
Published November 25, 2018 in College of Arts & Letters
This fall semester, junior Timosha Krivtsov, a current Apparel, Textile and Design (ATD) student, was accepted into Kansas City Fashion Week (KCFW) to show his original collection of his fashion…Read now »
Student Receives VIP Access to New York Fashion Week
Published September 14, 2018 in College of Arts & Letters
As the winner of the Spartan Fashion Design Collection Competition, Apparel and Textile Design senior Chantel Booker earned an all-expense-paid trip to New York Fashion Week (NYFW) where she…Read now »
Winners of MSU Fashion Design Competition Receive Trip to NY Fashion Week
Published August 17, 2017 in College of Arts & Letters
Two Apparel and Textile Design (ATD) students were selected as winners of the Michigan State University’s first Spartan Fashion Design Collection Competition and will attend New York Fashion…Read now »