The NTU alum with a passion for sustainable fashion
A member of our alumni community is on a mission to change the way we consume fashion and reduce its impact on the environment.
Katie Robinson (BA Hons International Fashion and Business) works for Yorkshire-based waste management firm, MYGroup. The company is creating quite a splash in the fashion industry – and for good reason. Its new factory claims to be the UK’s first sustainable textiles facility and is promising to create up to 30 job opportunities for the local community in Hull, Yorkshire.
We caught up with Katie, who works as a textile manager, to find out what motivates her to promote more sustainable fashion.
Q: You’re a big believer in giving textiles a second life – in real terms, what does that mean?
A: Not just a second life, but a third, fourth, fifth, and hopefully indefinite life one day. It means not taking textiles – in whatever form they appear – for granted. If everyone knew the vast amount of resources, processes, and effort that went into producing the textiles we come into contact every day, I think we would all appreciate them far more. We dispose of perfectly good textiles on a mass scale. This can’t continue. Considering what to do with a textile once it’s finished its first life cycle needs to become the norm.
Q: Tell us more about your career
A: I work for MyRefactory, which is part of the MyGroup collective. They’re specialists in combating multiple waste streams and use innovative technologies combined with traditional Yorkshire craftsmanship. I’m the textiles manager there and my job involves overseeing the remanufacture of End of Life (EoL) textiles, introducing the recycling of fibre-to-fibre textile solutions, along with driving the development of biomaterials for the future of textiles. All this happens using the multiple waste streams as feedstock in our processes.
Q: You studied BA International Fashion Business here at NTU – what are your memories of that time, and how did that prepare you for what you’re doing now?
A: I wish I could do it all over again! NTU prepared me for the real-life business side of fashion and textiles. In the real world of industry, having a solid knowledge of business and commercial practices is crucial.
Q: You've joined NTU's Alumni and Industry Fellowship Programme. What encouraged you to get involved?
I’m a big believer in industry working to support and educate the next generation of professionals entering our sector. I also remember what it was like being a student and how grateful I was to people who took the time to answer my emails, calls, and queries. Being able to do that for someone now that I’m the one in a position to help feels pretty amazing.
Q: How do we as consumers – and the fashion industry – need to change to make everything more sustainable?
A: The fashion and textiles industry needs to undergo a huge shift. Many factors are driving this change – like sustainable practices in the pursuit of net zero and reduced pollution, and global unrest affecting the complex supply chains fashion has come to rely upon. Not to mention future-proofing businesses against events like Covid.
Since the late '70s / early '80s, we’ve lived in a pocket of time – which I see coming to an end. A time of getting more, getting it faster and getting it cheaper. These practices are simply not something that can be sustained long term and all industries need to prepare for the slowdown that's required of us to find ‘better’ ways of living day to day. We all need to stop and look at the way we take everything we consume for granted and the throwaway culture we’ve all contributed to in one form or another.
Q: Your advice to current fashion students?
A: Do your research – and don’t design, source, buy, or sell anything you wouldn’t be happy putting yourself or your family in the supply chain of. If you don’t know that supply chain, find it out.
Q: What can we all do to consume fashion more sustainably?
A: Buy less, buy second–hand, buy better quality, buy UK-made items, and do your research. Once you know, you can’t ‘un-know’ the unethical and unsustainable practices that have been used for so many years all so we can appear Instagram-worthy. If everyone knew the damage happening behind the scenes – to people, to health, to life as we know it – we’d all question the need for that extra pair of shoes.
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