Professor Becky Earley
Title
Research Centre Co-Director Centre for Circular Design
College
University of the Arts London
Email address
Tags
Researcher Research
Biography
Professor Rebecca Earley is a sustainable fashion textile designer and co-founder of Centre for Circular Design at Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London. Her work currently focuses on textile design strategy for sustainable and circular textiles, spanning new material development, new production, social and methodological models, and design for mindset and behaviour change of both designers and users.She set up her B.Earley textile studio in 1994, and began teaching in 1996. She won several awards early on in her career including the London Fashion Week New Generation Award, the Princes Trust, Crafts Council, Arts Council England and Peugeot Design Awards. In 2007 she was nominated as a Morgan Stanley Great Briton for her contribution to sustainable fashion textiles in the UK. Between 2010 – 2017 she was Director of the Textile Futures Research Centre at Central Saint Martins and also worked in the Textiles Environment Design (TED) unit at Chelsea developing design strategy, curating exhibitions, facilitating workshops and creating original materials and prototypes. Becky has curated major fashion textile exhibitions in London, New York and Sweden; has shown her work extensively around the globe and is collected in by Museums including the Victoria and Albert in London and MFIT in New York.
Becky currently collaborates with brands and organisations to embed sustainable design research within corporate culture. Projects include Mistra Future Fashion (2015 – 2019) where Becky is exploring speeds for circular fashion textiles; and the Horizon 2020 EU project Trash-2-Cash which creates bridges between science and industry partners with CCD researchers, guiding the Design Driven Material Innovation (DDMI) process. Her contract research portfolio includes work with the Global Change Award, H&M Foundation, C&A Foundation, H&M, Filippa K, Kappahl, Zero Waste Scotland, Fashion Revolution, TCC Global, Sustainable Fashion Academy (SFA), Sloggi, Puma, VF Corporation, John Lewis and Marks and Spencer.
Grants and awards
(Figures indicate amount awarded to UAL)
- European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, Herewear: enabling local, circular and bio-based textiles, €6,158,830.00, (2020-2024)
- European Commission H2020, Trash 2 Cash, £750,050.00, (2015-2019)
- MISTRA, MISTRA Future Fashion 2, £322,000.00, (2015-2019)
- Mistra, The Curated Wardrobe, £32,000.00, (2016-2018)
- MISTRA, Future Fashion, £360,667.17, (2011-2015)
- Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), FIREup: Fashion Innovation Research and Enterprise, £200,814.00, (2013-2014)
Research Outputs
Art/Design item
- Earley R. Service Shirt (2018)
- Earley R. Fashion Fascia (2018)
- Earley R. Silence Shirt (Long Sleeves) (2017)
- Earley R. Silence Shirt (Short Sleeves) (2017)
- Earley R. Fractal Shirt (2015)
- Earley R. ReDressing Activism Shirt (2015)
- Earley R, Spurgin K. Shanghai Shirt II (2015)
- Earley R, Dodd I. Shanghai Shirt, 'Green' (2015)
- Earley R. reTHINK! template shirt (2010)
- Earley R, Geesin F. Jabot shirt: trash fashion... designing out waste in the fashion industry (2010)
- Earley R. Shirt from the Worn Again Project (2010)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Heritage Lace Shirts (2008)
Article
- Earley R, Reitan Andersen K, Rahbek Gjerdrum Pedersen E. From Singular to Plural: Exploring Organisational Complexities and Circular Business Model Design (2019)
- Hall C, Earley R. Divide, Switch, Blend: exploring two hats for industry entrepreneurship and academic practice-based textile design research (2019)
- Goldsworthy K, Earley R, Politowicz K. Circular Speeds: A Review of Fast & Slow Sustainable Design Approaches for Fashion & Textile Applications (2018)
- Earley R, Hornbuckle R. Face-ing Collaboration: A Meditation on the Faces of Circular Fashion Research (2018)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Playing for Time: workshop tools for designing extended life into fashion textile products (2018)
- Earley R. Whole Circles: A Leadership Model to Support Expanded Roles for Circular Textile Designers (2018)
- Earley R, Hornbuckle R. Postcards from The Edge: Exploring the Edges of Regenerated Fibre Development and Design Driven Material Innovation (2017)
- Earley R. Designing Fast & Slow: exploring fashion textile life cycle speeds with industry stakeholders (2017)
- Earley R. Circular Design Futures (2017)
- Earley R, Vuletich C, Hadridge P, Reitan Andersen K. A New 'T' for Textiles: Training Design Researchers to Inspire Buying Office Staff Towards Sustainability at Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) (2016)
- Earley R. Flourishing Fashion: Working Together to Complete the Circle (2016)
- von Busch O, Twigger Holroyd A, Keyte J, Choi Yin S, Ginsburg H, Earley R, Ballie J, Hansson H. In the Making: The ‘Power to the People’ Workshop Track at Crafting the Future (2015)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K, Vuletich C. Textiles, environment, design (TED): making theory into textiles through sustainable design strategies, pedagogy and collaboration (2010)
Book Section
- Earley R. Building Bridges: Design Researchers Making Podcasts to Support Internal Collaboration in an EU Horizon 2020 Scientific Programme (2019)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Circular Textile Design: Old Myths and New Models (2019)
- Real M, Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Practices, Places, Projects: Enrolling Stakeholders for Circular Fashion (2018)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Playing for time: seven practice-led workshop tools for making design decisions to extend the life of fashion textile materials and products (2017)
- Politowicz K, Goldsworthy K, Earley R. Circular Speeds: towards a new understanding of designing for fashion textile rhythms (2017)
- Earley R, Vuletich C. Holistic Fashion Design: My INNER/OUTER Journey - Elin Lindquist’s Acceptance Speech for the Noble Peace Prize in 2030 (2015)
- Earley R, Harvey B. Elastic Learning Tools (2015)
- Earley R, Reitan Andersen K. Design Thinking for Sustainability: A Case Study of a Research Project between Hennes & Mauritz and Textiles Environment Design (2014)
- Politowicz K, Earley R. We Shape Our Tools, Then They Shape Us (2013)
Conference, Symposium or Workshop item
- Earley R. Whole Circles: Models for Academic Textile Design Research Leadership in the Circular Economy (2016)
- Earley R. Designing Product Speeds for the Circular Economy (2016)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Designing for Fast and Slow Circular Fashion Systems: Exploring Strategies for Multiple and Extended Product Cycles (2015)
- Earley R. Upcycling textiles: adding value through design (2011)
- Earley R, Politowicz K. TED's ten: sustainable textile and fashion design strategies (2010)
- Tillotson J, Earley R. Ethical fashion: innovation and sustainability (2010)
- Earley R. Making time: the top 100 project (2010)
- Earley R. What's my textile footprint? (2010)
- Earley R. Designer/industry interface (2009)
- Earley R. Upcycling Textiles Presentation (2008)
- Earley R. Textiles and the Environment: The Role and Responsibilities of the Textile Designers of the Future (2008)
- Earley R. Current and Future Perspectives On Practice (2008)
- Earley R. Upcycling Fashion & Textiles: Technology, Ethics, Systems and Appropriateness (2008)
Other
- Earley R. Upcycling Textiles (2010)
- Earley R. The TED Resource (2003)
Performance
- Earley R, Martin R. Conversations on (a) Slow Craft
Report
- Tubito C, Earley R, Ellams D, Goldsworthy K, Hornbuckle R, Niinimäki K, Östmark E, Sarbach V, Tanttu M. Applied DDMI: A White Paper on how Design-Driven Material Innovation Methodology was applied in the Trash-2-Cash Project (2019)
- Östmark E, Ilen E, Boucher V, Gwozdz W, Cozzoni E, Tubito C, Henriksson M, Wisniewski R, Earley R, Harlin A, Määttänen M. Trash-2-Cash Project: Third Milestone Report D9.4 (2018)
- Östmark E, Elin I, Markaide N, Gwozdz W, Cozzoni E, Tubito C, Wedin H, Earley R, Harlin A, Määttänen M, Henriksson M, Johansson N. Trash-2-Cash Project: Second Milestone Report D9.3 (2017)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K, Vuletich C, Politowicz K, Ribul M. The Textile Toolbox: New Design Thinking, Materials & Processes for Sustainable Fashion Textiles (2016)
- Östmark E, Niinimäki K, Markaide N, Gwozdz W, Cozzoni E, Tubito C, Wedin H, Earley R, Harlin A, Määttänen M, Henriksson M. Trash-2-Cash Project: First Milestone Report D9.2 (2016)
Show/Exhibition
- Earley R. Trash-2-Cash (2018)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Making Circles: Circular Transitions Conference Exhibition (2016)
- Politowicz K, Earley R. Responsible Living: sustainable fashion concepts. Innovation Summit, VF Corp. (2012)
- Earley R. Taking time: craft and the slow revolution (2009)
- Earley R. Jerwood Contemporary Makers (2009)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things (2008)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Techno Threads (2008)
- Earley R. Evolution/Revolution: The Arts and Crafts in Contemporary Fashion and Textiles (2008)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Taking Time: Craft and the Slow Revolution
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Textile Toolbox
Teaching
Current research students
- Emmeline Child, Scaling-Up Upcycling: Design Systems for Commercial Reuse of Textile Waste Streams. (Joint supervisor)
- Laetitia Forst, Textiles for Disassembly (Joint supervisor)
- Kate Goldsworthy, Laser-Finishing: A New Process for Designing Recyclability in Synthetic Textiles. (Lead supervisor)
- Cathryn Hall, Blending In (Joint supervisor)
- Sanne Visser, Human Hair Waste Recycling For Fishing Gear (Lead supervisor)
- Sanne Visser, Design and the recycling of human hair waste towards a circular bio economy. (Joint supervisor)
Past research students
- Jennifer Ballie, e-Co-Textile Design: How Can Textile Design and Making, Combined with Social Media Tools, Achieve a More Sustainable Fast Fashion Future? (Lead supervisor)
- Laetitia Forst, Textile Design for Disassembly: A creative textile design methodology for designing detachable connections for material combinations (Lead supervisor)
- Cathryn Hall, Design for Recycled Knitwear: a framework for sorting, blending and cascading in the mechanical textile recycling industry (Lead supervisor)
- Bridget Harvey, Repair-Making: Craft, Narratives, Activism (Lead supervisor)
- Clara Vuletich, Transitionary Textiles: a crafts-based journey of Textile Design Practice towards new values and roles for a Sustainable Fashion Industry (Lead supervisor)
Subjects
Fashion business
Textiles and materials