Research

Citizen Fashion: Using Craft as a Tool to Make Fashion Sustainable

Citizen Fashion is a research project started in October 2021 in the form of a fully funded PhD at Sheffield Hallam University. I’ve been awarded a scholarship by the university to spend the next 6 years working on my project.

I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise to many of you that the focus of my research is sustainability in clothing and I will be specifically be looking at the role craft can play in helping us to keep our clothes for longer. I will be based in the school of Art & Design at Hallam and my research will be practice based, which means that as well as a ton of academic reading and writing I also get to design, make, create and play around with materials and techniques.

My project will also build on important movements that are gaining traction in both the craft and fashion industries: the importance of inclusion; a move towards sustainability and away from over-consumption, fast fashion and fast craft; the importance of heritage, creativity and skills; a more frugal approach to materials and the inherent need we all have for identity.