UK industry backs new textiles and colour research hub
20/09/2021
Universities in the area collectively enrol roughly 2,000 students in fashion, design, textiles and colour disciplines every year, UoL said.
Technical manufacturing, digital technology and the circular economy were all singled out as focus areas for addressing skills and professional development gaps through academic research, the institution continued.
LITAC’s founding director, Stephen Russell, who is also professor of textiles materials and technology at Leeds’ School of Design, commented: “Textiles and colour are fundamental to the function and appearance of countless products used by society.
“The industry as a whole is looking to innovate at every stage of the supply chain, to increase competitiveness, address environmental impacts and drive sustainable growth.
“Whether it is significantly reducing waste or a lack of transparency in the global fashion industry, creating new materials to rapidly diagnose infection for healthcare or deploying artificial intelligence to decide the colour of products and increase their value, LITAC can help with these sorts of challenges.”
UoL further highlighted how its business-focused and UK Research and Innovation-funded Future Fashion Factory, established in 2018, would bring an additional, active knowledge base to LITAC’s research.
The new institute gained its funding as a result of a co-investment by UoL and The Clothworkers’ Company, the latter of which, founded in 1528, stated that this had been the largest single funding commitment that it had ever made.
Image via Unsplash. Credit: Mel Poole
Share this story:
