Dr. Tom Waller is Senior Vice President of Innovation at adidas where the future of sport is explored and incubated with teams and facilities across the globe. He leads a rare and diverse group of multi-disciplinary scientists, technologists and creatives and is the originator of the innovation methodology known as the ‘human experience of performance’. This has infiltrated all aspects of the sports, well-being, health and fitness brands he has served through a unique philosophy of blending sensory experience and human achievement. The creation of iconic products, services and experiences have driven performance on the biggest sporting stages, generated billions of dollars, won gold medals, set world records and impacted the culture of sports and leisure at scale. Formerly Chief Science Officer at lululemon, Head of Aqualab for Speedo and a pivotal member of Loughborough University’s Sports Technology Institute.

Jack is a brand leader that puts consumers at the heart of brand building. He has an infectious, high energy approach to leadership with a passion for developing high performing teams with an empowering culture. Jack graduated from Sheffield Hallam University in 2005, with a BA in Business and Finance. Since then he’s gained a variety of experiences for several global brands including Red Bull, Costa Coffee, Kellogg’s and Philips Electronics. However, it was a move into the sports and fashion industry back in 2013 that Jack found his calling card, mixing work with his love for sport and people. He joined Pentland Brands, a family run organisation that’s home to Speedo, Berghaus, Endura, Mitre and Canterbury. Jack made the move to brand leadership last year, taking over the reins of Canterbury of New Zealand - The worlds most recognisable Rugby brand. At Canterbury, Jack can combine his passion for sport, people and building brand strategy.

Katie Greenyer is a creative mind, business leader and producer of innovative design. She believes passionately in the value of design education and is an ambassador for creative opportunity and new design talent. Katie currently holds the position of World President of the Textile Institute, is a Cordwainer liveryman with freedom of the City of London and a mentor for Graduate Fashion Week. After graduating in 1989 with a BA in Fine Art Printed Textiles at Liverpool School of Art, Katie went on to produce work for some of the most formative names in fashion, from luxury brands (Vivienne Westwood, Benny Ong, Paul Costello and Christian Lacroix) to high street (Next, Jigsaw, Dr Martens and French Connection). Katie’s unique flair for identifying exceptional talent coupled with an ability to foster and develop new careers has allowed her to make her mark on the creative industry.

Informed by broad research encompassing critical theory, musical composition, literature and history, WALES BONNER embraces a multiplicity of perspectives, proposing a distinct notion of luxury, via a hybrid of European and Afro-Atlantic approaches. She launched her eponymous label in 2014, after graduating from Central Saint Martins. Established as a menswear brand, the soulful tailoring expanded to womenswear. In 2015, she was awarded Emerging Menswear Designer at the British Fashion Awards. In 2016, after her first solo runway presentation - Ezekiel, she received the LVMH Young Designer Prize. In 2019, she was invited by Maria Grazia Chiuri to collaborate with Dior to re-interpret their New Look silhouette for the Resort 2020 collection; later, she was announced the winner of the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund. In January 2019, she presented her first institutional exhibition, A Time for New Dreams at London’s Serpentine Galleries.

Jane Middleton-Smith has had a long and varied career in education, museums, historical research and writing. She has experience of working for an industrial museum on large, multi-disciplinary gallery design teams, conferences, events. She wrote and edited a column on education in the Museums Journal and served on the GEM Committee, representing Museum Education at a national level for a number of years, prior to becoming chair of the group. She has been involved in two large community arts projects: one as part of the Millennium Festival and the other, a historical film and book project, following her relocation from London to the Derwent Valley in Derbyshire. Since 2009, she has worked as the Archivist for John Smedley Ltd., caring for and cataloguing the collection of this family-owned company, now considered one of the most significant of its kind. Jane has been instrumental in the creation of a Charitable Trust to establish a museum on site.

For the first seven years at Smedley, Tim studied textiles at the universities of Derby, Nottingham Trent and De Montford. This covered all aspects of fibre and yarn manufacture, knitting, weaving, dyeing & finishing. On completion of his qualifications, Tim specialized in dyeing and finishing departments. Addressing concerns around possible negative environmental impact. Later, Tim’s skills were required for a project with M&S in relation to all things colour and yarn development, along with management of the spinning division. This propelled him to source sustainable raw materials, from FARM TO FABRIC. As Technical Director of John Smedley, Tim’s prime focus is improved process, systems. Carbon Reduction is the main aim and by focusing on SECR (Streamlined Energy & Carbon reporting), ESOS ( Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme), Jon Smedley will be able to report annually on energy & carbon reduction. This feeds into the Royal Warrant application & renewal processes & education program.

Professor Tilak Dias directs the activities of the Advanced Textiles Research Group and brings a unique background in electronics, textiles and electronic textiles to the School of Art & Design at Nottingham Trent University. He leads the development of research in the fields of advanced textiles, flexural composite materials and electronic textiles, to enhance NTU’s capacity to undertake internationally excellent research. In 2002 he widened his research into integrating electronics with textiles, and he is possibly the most established academic in the UK to be engaged in this line of research. His research has resulted in two ground-breaking inventions, the ‘Scan-to-Knit’ technology to manufacture patient customised compression stockings engineered to deliver defined pressure-profiles utilising 3D scan image of patients’ limbs, and the 3D knitting technology to manufacture seamless three-dimensionally shaped shoe uppers, the world famous ‘FlyKnit’ of Nike.

Run by Dr Amy Twigger Holroyd, Associate Professor of Fashion and Sustainability in the School of Art and Design, the Fashion Fictions project brings people together to imagine, generate and explore alternative fashion cultures and systems. As a form of activism, the initiative contributes to the emergent post-growth fashion movement – which seeks a fashion system that fully acknowledges the Earth’s capacity to support life. Dr Twigger Holroyd encourages and supports diverse groups of people to imagine parallel worlds through written outlines, visual and material prototypes and ‘everyday dress’ projects. The image depicts World 10, in which making by hand is a kind of religion, created by Level 4 NTU students Teresa, Louise, Anna, Grace and Elle.

14th July 12.00 -14.00 UK time Nottingham Trent University is hosting the International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes (IFFTI) 2022 conference, and we invite you to this workshop to develop submission ideas for next year’s conference theme: Fashion Re-imagined. The workshop is open for anyone wishing to present and discuss an idea for a proposal, gain feedback on how to strengthen their proposal, understand where their research fits in relation to the sub-themes and explore key elements required to make an abstract interesting and engaging in relation to: • Exploring the sub-themes • Developing abstracts • Poster guidelines • Building appropriate workshop proposals • Defining developmental papers • Evaluating practice-based proposals • Next steps to successful submission Any queries, please contact Lisa Shawgi at lisa.shawgi@ntu.ac.uk

Initiated by Amy Twigger Holroyd, Reknit Revolution is an ongoing project encouraging hand knitters to rework tired and lifeless knitted garments in today’s wardrobe. Holroyd (a designer, knitter, and researcher) provides knitters, with a comprehensive chart, showcasing an array of treatments on how to repair holes, stains, and deal with issues of fit. Adapting the practice of repair or transformation by re-styling, knitters have the ability, to contribute to a circular economy within a domestic environment.

The Advanced Textiles Research Group (ATRG), in collaboration with QinetiQ, have designed and created LED shoelaces. In neutral, the laces appear like any ‘normal’ behaving shoelaces. Once switched on, the laces begin to light up and flash! In terms of safety, this feature increases a runner or cyclist’s visibility, enormously. Furthermore, the shoelaces are encapsulated within a waterproof resin, making them waterproof and fully washable. The laces are powered by a small battery, integrated into the shoe, which contains electronics to the on/off sensor. Not only is this idea great for improving athlete’s and sport enthusiast’s safety, but the laces have the potential in becoming a fashion accessory success.

In response to global sustainability, NTU has formed the Clothing Sustainability Research Group. This dedicated, interdisciplinary team of fashion researchers, identify and address concerns surrounding sustainability in the fashion system. Collaborating with partners in the fashion industry, strategies are formed to tackle issues of clothing longevity. The Clothing Durability Dozen, is a toolkit developed by the research group, enabling companies to build on existing design, manufacture, and production approaches, to deliver quality clothing, with a longer life span. The toolkit outlines 12 approaches, which act as guidelines, to improve both the physical and emotional durability of garments, hereby creating a more sustainable future for the fashion industry.