Fashion expert wins a top academic award

An expert in fashion sustainability from Nottingham Trent University (NTU) has become the institution’s first to be awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize.

Associate Professor Dr Amy Twigger Holroyd, of the Nottingham School of Art & Design, has been awarded £100,000 in recognition of her research in helping envisage a more sustainable future for the fashion industry.

Among Dr Twigger Holroyd’s work during the past ten years is the internationally recognised ‘Fashion Fictions’ project, which involves participants imagining and enacting alternative fashion systems as a strategy for sustainability.

The project, which connects design, fashion, making and sustainability, has engaged over 5,000 people via more than 120 activities in universities, schools and communities across six continents.

The research has been commended for leading to new perspectives on the real-world fashion system; creating shifts towards more sustainable clothing practices; and developing new fashion-related initiatives in both research and practice contexts, inspired by the project’s visions.

Dr Twigger Holroyd’s work has also involved developing the ‘Stitching Together’ network - funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) - which saw the development of good practice guidelines that are now used by organisations which deliver participatory textile activities in 17 countries.

“This award is an incredible privilege - I am delighted to be selected for something as prestigious as a Philip Leverhulme Prize,” said Dr Twigger Holroyd, who is a previous recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research at NTU.

“My research has been driven by a desire for real-world change in the fashion industry so that action can be taken to reduce its impact on the planet.

“The industries that supply our everyday clothes are dominated by companies that are driven by economic growth, but the pursuit of this growth has been proven to lead to environmental damage.

“Practitioners in industry are aware of these environmental problems, but they struggle to envisage viable alternatives, which is what Fashion Fictions has helped to deliver.

“I now look forward to taking this research further, with a particular focus on alternative organisational forms for the production, exchange, use and recovery of clothes and other products.

“My work is participatory, and I look forward to using the funding to work with design practitioners, sustainability activists, industry stakeholders and community groups to explore new possibilities for post-growth worlds.”

Outputs from Dr Twigger Holroyd’s work during the past decade include two sole-authored monographs, two co-authored books, three co-edited collections and 25 journal articles and book chapters.

Her practice-based research has been showcased in a solo exhibition and nine group exhibitions in the UK, USA and Poland.

She has delivered 24 conference contributions and given more than 40 invited talks to academic and non-academic audiences in the UK, Australia, Russia, Denmark, UAE, Australia, USA and India.

Professor Edward Peck, Vice-Chancellor and President of NTU, said: “We are delighted to see Amy being awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize, as it is further recognition that she is one of the leading academics in her field of her generation.

“Her research has been credited for leading to new perspectives on fashion sustainability around the world, and we are proud that her important research takes place here at NTU.”