Tara consults on Sustainable Fashion projects, having previously held roles with responsibility for environmental stewardship at ASOS.com and Tesco plc.

A Program Leader schooled in textile science with established capability in the retail environment. Tara is passionate about transforming the fashion industry with a 20 year record of delivering change on the international platform.

Having worked across all areas of impact for fashion products from raw materials to end of life. Tara builds strategic, comprehensive approaches to responsible fashion, collaborating over the early adoption of industry initiatives such as Better Cotton, Sustainable Apparel Coalition and ZDHC. Partnering with the Centre for Sustainable Fashion at LCF, Tara initiated the commercial adoption of circular design strategies at ASOS.

Core skills and competencies include:

• Sustainable fashion consultancy services for brands & retailers
• Strategy building, stakeholder engagement & communication of sustainable fashion
• Integration of sustainability in commercial operations

Gillian represents the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) in an ex officio capacity on the BFTT Steering Board. She has worked in the UK research councils since January 2014, re-joining the AHRC in September 2019 as a Senior Investment Manager. Her current role involves both supporting the two fashion clusters for the AHRC and developing the AHRC’s fashion portfolio. Prior to 2014 she worked as a part-time lecturer teaching Contextual Studies on Fine Art Drawing and Sequential Illustration degrees. Gillian has a long obsession with clothes and fashion and is currently exploring the issue of sustainability in the fashion and textile industry. She has a BA in History of Art and Design from the University of Southampton and an MA in Fine Art Drawing from Oxford Brookes University

Joanna Norman is Director of the V&A Research Institute. Her background is principally curatorial, with projects including exhibitions (Baroque, V&A 2009 and Treasures from Budapest, Royal Academy of Arts 2010), media collaborations (Handmade in Britain, V&A/BBC4 2011-12), permanent gallery redevelopments (Europe 1600–1815, V&A 2015) and new museums (the Scottish Design Galleries at V&A Dundee, opened 2018).  Joanna has published widely in association with these projects, as well as on the history of performance and on period rooms and the reconstruction of historic interiors inside and outside the museum environment. As Director of VARI she oversees the V&A’s research activities, including academic partnerships and postgraduate programmes, R&D for exhibitions, research affiliations and a portfolio of externally-funded research projects relating to the V&A’s collections and practices, including its internationally renowned collection of textiles and fashion.

Jane draws upon over 25 years experience in transdisciplinary research, with a background in textile design and extensive experience of computer graphic imaging.  Jane’s role includes working with internal and external stakeholders including industry partners, up to Government Ministerial level.

Jane devised novel approaches to the digital representation of dress and textiles. With a track record of leading collaborative industry and academic research and development initiatives, involving cross disciplinary creative industry practitioners. Jane’s experience includes board-level representation in sector-leading organisations such as the Victoria & Albert Museum and advisory roles for the EU, EPSRC, AHRC, ACE and Arts Foundation. She is Director of Research and Innovation (Stratford) and Professor of Digital Design & Innovation at University of the Arts London. Core skills and competences include:

• Strategic leadership and project direction
• Design research in digital and material cultures
• CGI for fashion and textiles
• Knowledge Exchange

Kate is Co-Director of the Centre for Circular Design at UAL, a world-leading research centre using practice research to innovate, steer and support circular economies and communities around the globe. Kate’s design research operates at the intersection of materials science with design and sustainability principles. As industry and Governments raise the priority of sustainable business, Kate has undertaken a range of industrial consultancy projects for fashion and textiles organisations including Worn Again Technologies Ltd, Filippa K, VF Corporation and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Core skills and competences include:

• Laser finishing for fashion and textiles
• Circular economy and circular design research
• Sustainable business consultancy in the fashion sector

Tracy is a University leader with a mission to integrate enterprise into all aspects of academic work, and with extensive experience of developing and implementing strategies with attention to fairness, accountability and empowerment.  Tracy’s role includes working with internal and external stakeholders up to Government Ministerial level. Alongside her leadership responsibilities, she is also Professor of Sustainable Design and therefore holds a strong interest for effecting change within an industry expressing increasing commitment to sustainable practice. Core skills and competencies include:

• Leadership and project direction
• Sustainable design consultancy
• Knowledge Transfer Partnership development

Susanne’s extensive experience and expertise in material cultural studies includes working with a wide range of industrial partners, and understanding the opportunities represented by, and innovating with, alternative materials. An anthropologist of international renown, Susanne leads a forward-thinking Department at UCL, which consciously seeks to bring anthropological insights to bear on contemporary industrial challenges.  Susanne has led large-scale RCUK, EU Commission and consultancy projects with businesses seeking to understand the cultural impacts of their practice. Core skills and competences include:

• Uptake and acceptance of new material innovations
• Culture and commerce
• Ethnographic research

As the former BFTT Partnership Director, Graeme draws on over 40 years experience in project management in international industry working for UK and US as director of a design consultancy and cultural facility; and as a leading research and policy expert on the creative industries in UK and Dutch universities. He has led over 30 research projects for Research Councils, UK government, the European Commission, cultural agencies and industry/trade bodies. In his role as a research centre and institute director, he has attracted over £25m in R&D funding. This has included leading large research consortia working on themes such as city growth, electric vehicles, sustainable design, rapid prototyping and digital clusters (e.g. Digital Shoreditch/Tech City). Graeme regularly advises the UK Culture Ministry and other agencies, as well as overseas cultural and economic ministries (e.g. OECD) on creative city and industries strategy, including programme evaluation and investment appraisal. He has held chairs/professorships in Design at both Brunel and Middlesex Universities, specialising in sustainable/urban design and innovation. His last appointment was Professor in Creative and Cultural Economy at University of the Arts London.

Yanina is a strategist, entrepreneur, senior researcher and experienced project leader. She has led projects ranging from fashion business strategy and policy to qualitative and quantitative consulting for FMCGs. During the last eight years, her work has focused on industry-academia strategic collaborations, where she has applied her expertise on start-ups, sustainability and innovation strategies within the fashion sector. She has been a lecturer and speaker at venues around the world and is an academic at the Centre for Sustainable Fashion. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). Core skills and competences include:

• Strategic programme management
• Sustainable innovation within the fashion industry
• Industry-academia knowledge exchange & innovation

Luigi has nine years of experience in managing complex research, training and capacity building projects. He is a Chartered Manager (CMgr), and holds PRINCE2 Foundation, Practitioner and Agile Practitioner qualifications. Before joining UAL, Luigi was Research Manager at Tate, where he managed projects funded by UK Research and Innovation, and the EU programmes FP7 and Horizon 2020. He has degrees in sociology and arts management. He is also a Non-executive Director of the Res Artis Foundation, the world’s largest network of artist residencies.  Core skills and competences include:

• Research and project management
• Cross-sector partnerships and network building
• Creative industries advisory

Lipi has over fifteen years’ experience as an educator of contemporary fashion business cultures. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). Lipi has industry experience in fashion retail, social enterprise and trend forecasting, and has worked as a sustainability consultant for the United Nations, Better Work in Textiles and Garments project for the Bangladesh Ready-made Garment Sector. She regularly advises local charities and schools on fashion and textiles projects. She is co-editor of the book South Asian Youth Cultures: Fashion Media and Society (Bloomsbury 2018). Core skills and competencies include:

• Multidisciplinary fashion research
• Global consumer cultures
• Community engagement and enterprise