Tibor | Micro R&D Mill
The Company
Tibor are a London-based creative weaving company with a long heritage in the luxury interior fabrics market.
Since their launch in 1945, they have pioneered deep textured luxury fabrics and novel colour combinations, working with the finest British manufactures.
R&D Focus
We are working with the Textiles Future Research Community at Central Saint Martins (UAL) to set up a micro R&D mill and develop luxury woven textiles.
We use sustainable materials and processes and interpret heritage weaving techniques on modern looms, supporting the development of local skills and a sustainable UK supply.
The project launched in March 2020.
Partners
Team
Hannah Auerbach George
R&D Project Lead
UAL
Since completing her masters in Woven Textile Design at the RCA, Hannah’s career within Textiles has spanned industrial production, historical textiles, design, consultancy and education. She co-founded a woven R&D studio, Norn Design, developing bespoke fabrics with clients in London, New York and Italy. Following her passion for sustainable design and traditional crafts, Hannah has recently returned from an extended period in Japan where she worked as a consultant and woven designer. She has extensive knowledge of manufacturing processes and sustainable schools of thought. Hannah applies her diverse experience to every project she undertakes resulting in a distinctive approach routed in technique and process. Core competencies include:
- Woven textile design, development and production
- Sustainable textile design
- Tactile knowledge exchange
Philippa Brock
R&D Academic Mentor
UAL
Philippa has an interdisciplinary practice developed over twenty five years as an academic, researcher, international designer, editor, curator, strategist and artist within the field of digital woven textiles and materials. Philippa’s primary research interests lie in developing disruptive approaches to 2D and 3D digital industrial manufacturing, woven jacquard loom methods, in collaboration with industry-leading to novel design solutions. She also manages the Woven Textile Pathway at CSM, is part of the Textile Futures Research Community and exhibits jacquard woven art works globally. Additionally, Philippa edits The Weave Shed, an open source online resource site, and blog for professional weavers and is Co-founder of Studio Houndstooth; a collaborative studio creating socially innovated projects that use methods of textile making to bring together industry and the local community.
Core skills and competencies include:
- Design innovation, Education, and Research Leadership – sustainable digital woven textiles and materials.
- Academic and industry knowledge exchange innovation
- Project management
Project Updates
£1.2m R&D Funding Awarded to Fashion SMEs
The Companies
We have awarded over £1.2 million to 10 of the UK fashion industry’s most innovative and sustainable brands.
From over 80 applications, 13 were shortlisted and provided with one-to-one mentoring, business workshops and training to help develop their initial concepts into fully fledged business plans.
The shortlisted businesses then had to pitch their idea to a panel of industry and academic experts – with just ten making the final cut.
Awards totalling over £1.2m will be made to: Ananas Anam, Anna Glover, AWAYTOMARS, Blackhorse Lane Ateliers, Chip[S] Board, Doppelhaus, Elvis & Kresse, Segura, Tengri and Tibor.
Individual R&D projects are listed elsewhere on this website.
The Support
In addition, each recipient will receive a comprehensive package of support. This includes mentoring from leading academics across the partnership, hands-on specialist creative and technical support. Besides this, there is ongoing project management and strategic business support from across the BFTT team.
The awarded projects cover a range of sub-sectors and R&D areas, including:
- bio-material development to non-woven textiles
- a global design crowdsourcing platform
- sustainable surface finishing processes
- on-shoring of state-of-the-art sustainable manufacturing
- novel digital solutions to increase transparency and improve sustainability in the sector
The projects, which all focus on a specific R&D challenge, will launch in Spring 2020. They will be running for 12-18 months depending on the complexity of the proposition.
The Programme
This award was made within the BFTT SME R&D Programme, which is hosted by the University of the Arts London (UAL), in partnership with some of the UK’s leading universities.
The programme consists of a bespoke support package designed to enable small and medium enterprises from across the fashion, textiles and technology sector, access to expertise and resources to develop the next generation of sustainability-driven products, services and experiences.
Over 2020/21 we will be launching further funding support of a similar value.
Read the press release for further information.
700 Responses… So Far!
We have received over 700 responses to our survey of the fashion, textiles and technology ecosystem.
We are very grateful to all owners, founders and CEOs from across the UK that have been helping us to highlight the unspoken needs of the sector and to inform the key policy provisions that can sustain its growth and global competitiveness.
You are still on time to join them and make sure that your voice is also heard by completing the online survey.
Apply for a Studio at Poplar Works in London
Applications for studios at Poplar Works are now open.
Poplar Works is a new space for fashion in East London. Poplar HARCA, London College of Fashion, UAL and The Trampery have developed Poplar Works together over the past years, and they will be opening in November.
There are over forty studios across two sites, as well as training spaces, a small production unit and a café. Studios range from 114 – 298 ft2 and start at £200 a month. Interested groups can now apply for studios. The first round of applications closes on 18th November 2019.
The studios at Poplar Works are open to anyone working in the fashion economy – designers, makers, photographers, jewellers and more – although applications from early stage businesses, and anyone based in Poplar and East London are particularly welcome.
Prospective applicants can find more details of the application process and the available studio types at https://poplarworks.co.uk/studios/.
Any queries should be directed to hello@poplarworks.co.uk
Apply for mentoring support
Are you a pre-start-up, start-up or SME working within the fashion supply chain or developing new technologies?
We invite you to participate in the Call for Projects for the DeFINE Mentoring Programme.
The Programme provides eight months of bespoke guidance to help you grow your business idea through technical, business management and investment readiness support.
DeFINE is a collaborative project, which aims to support the fusion of cutting-edge technologies and innovation with the European fashion and design industries.
