Yorkshire’s innovative textile heritage took centre stage at the first annual Future Fashion Factory showcase on 16 October 2019.

Future Fashion Factory is a five-year, £5.4m industry-led project. It sees designers lead a highly creative process of applying, co-developing and implementing new textile and industrial digital technologies in collaboration with supply chain manufacturers and other technology experts in the high-value luxury textile and fashion sector.

Over 100 guests from the fashion and textile industry attended the showcase at Salts Mill, Saltaire. There, they celebrated the programme’s success in its first year. They also learnt more about the research and development taking place across the Future Fashion Factory community of designers, mills, technology providers and researchers.

 

 

Guest speaker for the evening was Peter Ackroyd MBE, president of Campaign for Wool.

Ackroyd praised Future Fashion Factory’s commitment to innovation; going on to emphasise that innovation is a crucial part of the Yorkshire textile industry’s past, present and future.

The showcase also marked the launch of a unique project between Yorkshire Textiles and Leeds-based mill AW Hainsworth. The project was supported by Future Fashion Factory in its first innovation funding call earlier this year.

Elsewhere, historic jacquard punch cards from Leeds Industrial Museum provided inspiration for a ‘new heritage’ cloth. A short film chronicling the journey of textile designer Rebecca Ough made its debut at the showcase. There was also a variety of garments, accessories and home interior products made using the bespoke cloth.

 

 

Furthermore, there were garments from the School of Design at the University of Leeds. These were based on designs from a student project inspired by the Yorkshire Fashion Archive.

Also among the exhibitors was WT Johnson. WT Johnson received Future Fashion Factory funding for a project to develop a digital tool to predict the effect of different finishes on any fabric.

Elsewhere, SizeStream demonstrated 3D body scanning technology in the form of its new mobile app. Meanwhile, HD Wool talked to guests about its recent InnovateUK funding to research methods of improving the wash durability of wool fibres to extend the life of woollen products.

Exhibitions and demonstrations also focused on new data-driven design tools for fashion designers; personalising fabric to suit individual needs; traceable and transparent supply chains; as well as equipping tomorrow’s professionals to succeed in a changing fashion industry.

 

 

Commenting is Suzy Shepherd, co-director of Future Fashion Factory. “The pedigree of Yorkshire’s textile industry is embedded in the region. To combine this with design, digital technology, fashion and skills makes a very powerful statement about how the sector and Future Fashion Factory’s academic partners are continuing this tradition of innovation. The support of the region’s mills and other industry partners has been phenomenal in our first year.”

Future Fashion Factory is part of the Creative Industries Clusters Programme, an £80 million initiative led by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) as part of the Industrial Strategy. The Programme is led by the University of Leeds in partnership with the University of Huddersfield and Royal College of Art.

For further information please contact Sarah Parkin, Future Fashion Factory communications & digital engagement officer on extsp@leeds.ac.uk.