Angelene Wong, Ph.D
About
Angelene is a Singapore-based fashion theorist whose research explores the intersections of fashion culture, archives, performance, and modernity. Her academic work is deeply informed by kinaesthesia, having trained as a dancer since childhood and performed as a freelance professional for over a decade. She works between fashion academia and industry, including lecturing and contributing to research projects on fashion culture and heritage. Her doctoral thesis examined Singapore’s modelling industry through performative methodologies. With experience in Singapore, Paris, and New York, she brings a global and critical lens to fashion. Angelene and her work have been featured in Vogue Singapore, Channel News Asia, The Straits Times, Fashion & Market, and Archivio.
Education
PhD, Art, Design and Media (2020-2025)
Nanyang Technological University
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Master of Arts, Fashion Studies (2017-2019)
Parsons School of Design
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Bachelor of Arts, English (2012-2016)
Minor in Communications
Nanyang Technological University
Employment
Angelene has lectured at Lasalle College of the Arts (University of the Arts Singapore) and Nanyang Technological University. Since completing her PhD, Angelene has been driving Industry Development at the Singapore Fashion Council. Here, she bridges theory and practice by designing initiatives that meet the fashion industry's needs in areas of culture, sustainability, and innovation.
Posing as Research
In her doctoral thesis, "Fashion Modeling, Poses, and Modern Femininities in Singapore, 1965-1987," Angelene studied fashion models' poses in archived Singaporean magazines by re-enacting them through her own body. Through this performative approach to fashion studies she discovered how posing techniques embodied historical sensibilities specific to postcolonial Singapore, as they intersected with modernity, women's emerging roles, and commodification of bodies. She documented her process in