Sustainable fashion: transdisciplinary approaches to innovation

Professor Richard Thompson OBE FRS

University of Plymouth

Richard is a Professor of Marine Biology and Director of the University of Plymouth, Marine Institute. He is a world expert on plastic pollution. In 2004, he published the first paper describing the accumulation of microscopic fragments of plastic in the environment, naming them 'microplastics'.

He and his team have been at the forefront of microplastics research showing their global distribution, the potential for transfer from the gut to the circulatory system, and their role in the transport of chemicals. This pioneering work was pivotal in recognition of microplastic contamination in policy, such as Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Dr Jane Harris

University of the Arts London

Jane Harris is Professor of Digital Design and Innovation, Director of the Fashion, Textiles and Technology Institute (FTTI) at University of the Arts London. With over twenty years of experience as a research leader and mentor, Professor Harris has worked extensively across the UK and international higher education sector, including MIT, and as Visiting Professor of Design Research, Geneva University of Art & Design.

Her role includes leadership of research and development initiatives aligned to the new (2023) UAL campus on the Queen Elizabeth Park, as part of a development called East Bank, with partners including UCL, Loughborough University, QMUL, V&A, Sadler’s Wells and Studio Wayne McGregor.

Jane is a member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Peer Review College, and has advised the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), InnovateUK, the Arts Councils of England (ACE) and Scotland, the Wellcome Trust, and the Crafts Council. She has also been an Advisor and Peer Reviewer to the European Commission for ICT (FP7 and Horizon 2020).

Jane is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA),also digital advisor to the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), and an advisory board member of the V&A Research Institute (VARI).

Professor Kate Goldsworthy

UAL Centre for Circular Design, Business of Fashion Textiles and Technology

Professor Kate Goldsworthy is Chair of Circular Design & Innovation and Co-Director of the Centre for Circular Design, based at Chelsea College of Arts. She is also Deputy Director of the Business of Fashion, Textiles and Technology partnership (BFTT, 2018-23), funded by the UK Industrial Strategy (£5.5m) and managed by the AHRC.

Her core research interests are designing for sustainability, the circular economy and material innovation within textile and fashion contexts. Her methods are transdisciplinary and practice-led, with a focus on fibre-to-fibre recovery and new finishing technologies. This includes more sustainable production systems for the textile industry, and pioneering design solutions for the recycling and recovery of both synthetic polymers and bio-based materials.

She is a member of the EPSRC Peer Review College and was previously a member of their EC Forum in Manufacturing Research (2016-2020). She also advises on policy groups and industry boards, including a long-standing relationship with Worn Again Technologies, where she currently sits on their Circular Advisory Panel. Her creative work has been exhibited and collected internationally, and commissions include The Science Museum, The V&A and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

Dr Liz Tregenza

London College of Fashion

Liz is a Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies at London College of Fashion. She recently completed a Business of Fashion Textiles and Technology Post-doctoral Research Fellowship at the Victoria and Albert Museum. This fellowship focused on the transformative opportunities digital technologies offer the fashion retail and cultural sectors.

She has also worked as a museum curator and runs an online vintage business.

In February 2023, her book Wholesale Couture: London and Beyond, 1930-1970 was released with Bloomsbury.

Hannah Auerbach George

Victoria and Albert Museum

Hannah Auerbach George is the Business of Fashion Textiles and Technology Research Fellow at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Originally trained in Woven Textile Design at the Royal College of Arts, Hannah’s career within textiles has spanned industrial production, historical textiles, design, consultancy, research and education. Her research focuses on mining forgotten technologies to inform the development of sustainable future materials.

Hannah applies her diverse experience to every project she undertakes resulting in a distinctive approach routed in technique and process.

Dr Liz Tregenza

London College of Fashion

Liz is a Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies at London College of Fashion. She recently completed a Business of Fashion Textiles and Technology Post-doctoral Research Fellowship at the Victoria and Albert Museum. This fellowship focused on the transformative opportunities digital technologies offer the fashion retail and cultural sectors.

She has also worked as a museum curator and runs an online vintage business.

In February 2023, her book Wholesale Couture: London and Beyond, 1930-1970 was released with Bloomsbury.

Hannah Auerbach George

Victoria and Albert Museum

Hannah Auerbach George is the Business of Fashion Textiles and Technology Research Fellow at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Originally trained in Woven Textile Design at the Royal College of Arts, Hannah’s career within textiles has spanned industrial production, historical textiles, design, consultancy, research and education. Her research focuses on mining forgotten technologies to inform the development of sustainable future materials.

Hannah applies her diverse experience to every project she undertakes resulting in a distinctive approach routed in technique and process.

Professor Kate Goldsworthy

UAL Centre for Circular Design, Business of Fashion Textiles and Technology

Professor Kate Goldsworthy is Chair of Circular Design & Innovation and Co-Director of the Centre for Circular Design, based at Chelsea College of Arts. She is also Deputy Director of the Business of Fashion, Textiles and Technology partnership (BFTT, 2018-23), funded by the UK Industrial Strategy (£5.5m) and managed by the AHRC.

Her core research interests are designing for sustainability, the circular economy and material innovation within textile and fashion contexts. Her methods are transdisciplinary and practice-led, with a focus on fibre-to-fibre recovery and new finishing technologies. This includes more sustainable production systems for the textile industry, and pioneering design solutions for the recycling and recovery of both synthetic polymers and bio-based materials.

She is a member of the EPSRC Peer Review College and was previously a member of their EC Forum in Manufacturing Research (2016-2020). She also advises on policy groups and industry boards, including a long-standing relationship with Worn Again Technologies, where she currently sits on their Circular Advisory Panel. Her creative work has been exhibited and collected internationally, and commissions include The Science Museum, The V&A and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

Andrew Yip

PANGAIA

Andrew Yip leads the materials and process innovation function within the PANGAIA R&D team, focusing on sustainable technologies in the areas of biopolymers, carbon-capture and utilization, green chemistry, waterless processing, and regenerative agriculture/agroforestry. He received his MS degree in Materials Science from the University of California Santa Barbara and BS in Physics from Johns Hopkins University. Since leaving school he has held various material development & commercialization roles at adidas and The North Face.

Andrew has contributed to a number of projects & patents such as the commercial launch of the world’s first fully-recyclable performance running shoe (adidas Made To Be Remade), the early development of the lowest carbon footprint performance running shoe (adidas x allbirds), one of the first engineered jacquard woven jackets in the outdoor industry (The North Face FuseForm), and numerous products that have been used in the harshest environments on Earth (The North Face Summit and Steep Series). In his spare time he likes to go rock climbing, hiking with his family, and learning new things.

Dr Joseph Houghton

Virustatic

Joseph holds a doctorate and MChem degree in Green and Sustainable Chemistry from the Green Chemical Centre of Excellence, University of York, is a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC) and has been recognised for his work in the area of sustainability and the environment by being awarded a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) accreditation.

His historical research aims to reduce the impact of industrial waste biomass through valorisation routes in hopes of creating biorefinery systems for a more sustainable future. Working in collaboration with industry, economic and commercial feasibility is embedded across the entirety of Joseph's research. He has worked in the area of green chemistry for the last ten years and has devoted his research to improving the sustainability of the material and textile world over the last four years with projects involving the Leeds Institute of Textile and Colour (LITAC) and the Fashion and Textile Technology Institute (FTTI).

Joseph is currently the Senior R&D Project Manager at Virustatic, where he supports the company in the innovation of textile coatings to replace the use of toxic metal-based chemicals for the antimicrobial treatment of fabrics and textiles.

Aida Rafat

DyeRecycle

Dr Yudi Ding

Hide Biotech

Dr Yudi Ding is the co-founder and CEO of Hide Biotech, a Cambridge-incubated startup transforming waste-derived collagen into novel fashion materials and beyond.

At Cambridge, he studied and researched organic and protein chemistry, which is key to Hide's protein-based technology.

Prior to his PhD, he obtained his MA degree in Chemical Engineering at the École Polytechnique. He has also worked for Johnson & Johnson in manufacturing quality assurance and the advanced research unit at L’Oréal developing new anti-ageing molecules.

He enjoys design, cooking, calligraphy and everything that involves creativity and precision.

Dr Yudi Ding

Hide Biotech

Dr Yudi Ding is the co-founder and CEO of Hide Biotech, a Cambridge-incubated startup transforming waste-derived collagen into novel fashion materials and beyond.

At Cambridge, he studied and researched organic and protein chemistry, which is key to Hide's protein-based technology.

Prior to his PhD, he obtained his MA degree in Chemical Engineering at the École Polytechnique. He has also worked for Johnson & Johnson in manufacturing quality assurance and the advanced research unit at L’Oréal developing new anti-ageing molecules.

He enjoys design, cooking, calligraphy and everything that involves creativity and precision.

Dr Joseph Houghton

Virustatic

Joseph holds a doctorate and MChem degree in Green and Sustainable Chemistry from the Green Chemical Centre of Excellence, University of York, is a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC) and has been recognised for his work in the area of sustainability and the environment by being awarded a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) accreditation.

His historical research aims to reduce the impact of industrial waste biomass through valorisation routes in hopes of creating biorefinery systems for a more sustainable future. Working in collaboration with industry, economic and commercial feasibility is embedded across the entirety of Joseph's research. He has worked in the area of green chemistry for the last ten years and has devoted his research to improving the sustainability of the material and textile world over the last four years with projects involving the Leeds Institute of Textile and Colour (LITAC) and the Fashion and Textile Technology Institute (FTTI).

Joseph is currently the Senior R&D Project Manager at Virustatic, where he supports the company in the innovation of textile coatings to replace the use of toxic metal-based chemicals for the antimicrobial treatment of fabrics and textiles.

Emily Stebbings

UKRI

Lucy Hope

Virustatic

Lucy Hope is the Development Director at Virustatic. Virustatic has developed a novel, bioactive textile treatment that is naturally antimicrobial. The patented technology was first used in the market on the globally successful Virustatic SHIELD® product which is a breakthrough in viral filtration technology.

Lucy joined Virustatic when it was a disruptive innovation start-up and has helped steer the company into becoming a purpose-led award-winning business. In 2022, Virustatic won the MediWales Innovation Award in the Industry Judges category and its Virustatic SHIELD® product was acquisitioned by the Science Museum Group for the Science and Industry Museum Trust’s COVID-19 archive.

Lucy is a Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) alumna and works closely with an interdisciplinary team of green chemists, microbiologists and material scientists on innovation projects to further develop Virustatic’s sustainable antimicrobial coatings.

Andrew Yip

PANGAIA

Andrew Yip leads the materials and process innovation function within the PANGAIA R&D team, focusing on sustainable technologies in the areas of biopolymers, carbon-capture and utilization, green chemistry, waterless processing, and regenerative agriculture/agroforestry. He received his MS degree in Materials Science from the University of California Santa Barbara and BS in Physics from Johns Hopkins University. Since leaving school he has held various material development & commercialization roles at adidas and The North Face.

Andrew has contributed to a number of projects & patents such as the commercial launch of the world’s first fully-recyclable performance running shoe (adidas Made To Be Remade), the early development of the lowest carbon footprint performance running shoe (adidas x allbirds), one of the first engineered jacquard woven jackets in the outdoor industry (The North Face FuseForm), and numerous products that have been used in the harshest environments on Earth (The North Face Summit and Steep Series). In his spare time he likes to go rock climbing, hiking with his family, and learning new things.

Dr Jane Harris

University of the Arts London

Jane Harris is Professor of Digital Design and Innovation, Director of the Fashion, Textiles and Technology Institute (FTTI) at University of the Arts London. With over twenty years of experience as a research leader and mentor, Professor Harris has worked extensively across the UK and international higher education sector, including MIT, and as Visiting Professor of Design Research, Geneva University of Art & Design.

Her role includes leadership of research and development initiatives aligned to the new (2023) UAL campus on the Queen Elizabeth Park, as part of a development called East Bank, with partners including UCL, Loughborough University, QMUL, V&A, Sadler’s Wells and Studio Wayne McGregor.

Jane is a member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Peer Review College, and has advised the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), InnovateUK, the Arts Councils of England (ACE) and Scotland, the Wellcome Trust, and the Crafts Council. She has also been an Advisor and Peer Reviewer to the European Commission for ICT (FP7 and Horizon 2020).

Jane is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA),also digital advisor to the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), and an advisory board member of the V&A Research Institute (VARI).

Professor Richard Thompson OBE FRS

University of Plymouth

Richard is a Professor of Marine Biology and Director of the University of Plymouth, Marine Institute. He is a world expert on plastic pollution. In 2004, he published the first paper describing the accumulation of microscopic fragments of plastic in the environment, naming them 'microplastics'.

He and his team have been at the forefront of microplastics research showing their global distribution, the potential for transfer from the gut to the circulatory system, and their role in the transport of chemicals. This pioneering work was pivotal in recognition of microplastic contamination in policy, such as Marine Strategy Framework Directive.