TFRC members at Copenhagen Sustainable Fashion Conference

Three TFRC members will be presenting papers at the Towards Sustainability in the Fashion and Textiles Industry conference in Copenhagen this coming week.

Carole Collet's (CSM) paper is titled Could biomimicry and biology lead to new sustainable design models? and will highlight Carole's research into these innovative design approaches for textiles within living environments.

Becky Earley's (TED?CCW) paper is titled Upcycling Textiles: Adding Value Through Design and will propose new textile design theory for the practice of upcycling. The paper will reflect upon the Ever & Again project (2005 – 2010) that asked twelve designers to create recycled textile products that would have value added to them in the course of recirculation. The paper will consider: the research questions; the research methodologies utilised and developed; and the concepts that were developed by the designers in order to arrive at a definition of the upcycling of textiles, and a set of guiding principles for best practice. The paper concludes with visions for future practice, including the Twice Upcycled work which explores forward recycling concepts for the polyester economy.

Kay Politowicz's (TED/CCW) paper is titled "We Cannot Afford Cheap Things": Teaching, Research and Enterprise and explores the relationship of teaching, practice-based research and enterprise in the education of textile designers. While UK Higher Education teaching budgets have been subject to cuts in funding, there has been a recent establishment in practice-based research activity amongst teachers on art and design courses that is just beginning to flourish. This paper will outline several models for research into teaching, and teaching into research, that have been piloted by TED at Chelsea College of Art and Design.