Professor Kate Goldsworthy Appointed Director of the Future Denim Lab

Professor Kate Goldsworthy has been appointed as Director of the Future Denim Lab, a pioneering research and knowledge exchange initiative launching at Central Saint Martins (CSM) in partnership with Miss Sixty in 2025.

The Future Denim Lab represents a bold step toward shaping regenerative futures for fashion, textiles, and materials. It will serve as a hub for experimentation, collaboration, and innovation, bringing together students, researchers, and industry partners to reimagine denim for a circular economy. Under Kate’s leadership, the Lab will explore cutting-edge approaches to recycling, recovery, and reuse, integrating biotechnology and advanced manufacturing to transform the lifecycle of denim.

Kate Goldsworthy is widely recognised as a leading voice in sustainable design. As Professor of Circular Design and Innovation at the University of the Arts London and Director of the UAL Innovation Lab, her work bridges design practice, research, and industry. She completed the UK’s first practice-based PhD on designing textiles for the circular economy and has spent over a decade working within the denim sector. Her creative projects have been exhibited internationally and commissioned by institutions including the Science Museum, V&A, and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

Kate’s appointment reflects CSM’s commitment to advancing fashion practice research and embedding sustainability at the heart of creative education. She will play a pivotal role in establishing the Lab’s vision and ensuring its long-term impact. This includes leading a multidisciplinary team, securing ambitious research funding, and fostering partnerships that drive systemic change. The Lab will also support teaching across courses such as BA Fashion, BA Textile Design, MA Material Futures, MA Biodesign, and MA Regenerative Design, creating opportunities for students to engage directly with research-led projects.

The Future Denim Lab will host the annual Miss Sixty Future Denim Prizes, celebrating outstanding student innovation in denim design. Through these initiatives, Kate aims to inspire the next generation of designers to rethink material use, product lifecycles, and business models for a more sustainable industry.

Professor Kate Goldsworthy said: “I’m delighted to lead the Future Denim Lab at such an exciting moment for CSM and for the wider industry. Our partnership with Miss Sixty creates a powerful platform to accelerate circular and sustainable innovation in denim and the collective fashion and textiles industries. I’m excited to work with our students, researchers and industry collaborators to push the boundaries of what’s possible and to reimagine one of the world’s most iconic materials through a regenerative lens.”

Miss Sixty is an iconic denim brand and part of Trendy Group, a global leader in fashion innovation. Since 2018, Trendy Group has been a collaborative partner of CSM and this new collaboration sets a benchmark for fashion education and industry engagement, paving the way for circular innovation in denim and beyond. Under Professor Goldsworthy’s leadership CSM’s ambition is for the Future Denim Lab to become a global reference point for sustainable fashion innovation.