Dr Kate Goldsworthy

Biography
Professor Kate Goldsworthy is Chair of Circular Design & Innovation and Co-Director of the Centre for Circular Design, based at Chelsea College of Arts. She is also Deputy Director of the Business of Fashion, Textiles and Technology partnership (BFTT, 2018-23), funded by the UK Industrial Strategy (£5.5m) and managed by the AHRC. Her core research interests are designing for sustainability, the circular economy and material innovation within textile and fashion contexts. Her methods are transdisciplinary & practice-led, with a focus on fibre-to-fibre recovery and new finishing technologies . This includes more sustainable production systems for the textile industry, and pioneering design solutions for the recycling and recovery of both synthetic polymers and bio-based materials. She joined UAL initially as a Masters student in 1997 and after a period in industry returned in 2005 to undertake doctoral research. Her practice-based PhD ‘Laser finishing: a new process for designing recyclability in synthetic textiles’ (2012), re-imagined the way we could manufacture and re-manufacture textiles with a focus on ‘industrial ecology’ and 'life-cycle design', enabling continuous cycles of future recycling. She is a member of the EPSRC Peer Review College and was previously a member of their EC Forum in Manufacturing Research (2016-2020). She also advises on policy groups and industry boards, including a long-standing relationship with Worn Again Technologies, where she currently sits on their Circular Advisory Panel. Her creative work has been exhibited & collected internationally. and commissions include The Science Museum, The V&A and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Through research projects, including Mistra Future Fashion (2015-2019) and the EU funded Trash-2-Cash (2015-2018), and HEREWEAR (2019-2024) Kate and the CCD team continue to explore the potential for design to drive a more circular materials economy. This includes devising collaboration tools and methods for engaging stakeholders from all parts of the materials value chain as well as hands-on material and process development. She is also interested in the potential for digitisation and new production models to provide more sustainable future manufacturing visions. Nonwovens production, hi-tech finishing processes and chemical recycling developments are all part of this remit. Her approach is practice-based, always placing making at the centre of her research, and collaborative, often across disciplines or embedded in industry contexts through knowledge exchange projects.
Grants and awards
(Figures indicate amount awarded to UAL)
- Innovate UK, Sustainable alternatives for COVID-19 PPE: biodegradable wipes and reusable masks made of pineapple leaf fibre, £207,000.00, (2020-2021)
- 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)
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), EPSRC Early Career Forum for Manufacturing Research
- Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Network University
Research Outputs
Art/Design item
- Politowicz K, Goldsworthy K, Granberg H. Pulp-It (Fast Forward Fashion) (2018)
- Goldsworthy K, Telfer D. Full Circle: Ready-finished and Recoverable Fashion (2016)
- Goldsworthy K. Laser Line 2D: Zero Waste Dress (2014)
- Goldsworthy K. Laser Line (2010)
- Goldsworthy K. Mono Finishing (2009)
- Goldsworthy K. MultiSheers (2008)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Heritage Lace Shirts (2008)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Twice Upcycled Shirts (2008)
Article
- Goldsworthy K. Material Ages (2021)
- Ribul M, Goldsworthy K, Collet C. Material-Driven Textile Design (MDTD): A Methodology for Designing Circular Material-Driven Fabrication and Finishing Processes in the Materials Science Laboratory (2021)
- Goldsworthy K, Ellams D. Collaborative Circular Design: Incorporating Life Cycle Thinking into an Interdisciplinary Design Process (2019)
- Goldsworthy K, Earley R, Politowicz K. Circular Speeds: A Review of Fast & Slow Sustainable Design Approaches for Fashion & Textile Applications (2018)
- Goldsworthy K. Afterlife: Designing the End at the Beginning (2018)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Playing for Time: workshop tools for designing extended life into fashion textile products (2018)
- Goldsworthy K. The Speedcycle: a design-led framework for fast and slow circular fashion lifecycles (2017)
- Goldsworthy K. Design for Cyclability: pro-active approaches for maximising material recovery (2014)
- Goldsworthy K, Lang D. Cradle to cradle design (2010)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K, Vuletich C. Textiles, environment, design (TED): making theory into textiles through sustainable design strategies, pedagogy and collaboration (2010)
Book Section
- Goldsworthy K, Politowicz K. Fast-Forward: Proposals for a Light and Restorative Fashion Alternative (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)
- Goldsworthy K, Roos S, Peters G, Sandin G. Towards a Quantified Design Process: bridging design and life cycle assessment (2017)
- Politowicz K, Goldsworthy K, Earley R. Circular Speeds: towards a new understanding of designing for fashion textile rhythms (2017)
- Goldsworthy K, Paine H. Laser Welding of Textiles: A creative approach to technology through a reflective craft practice (2015)
- Goldsworthy K. Borrowed materials: designing textiles for a closed-loop polyester economy (2010)
- Paine H, Goldsworthy K, Baurley S. Evolutionary approach of a textile designer through cross-disciplinary research practice: A case study in the field of advanced methods for joining textiles
Conference, Symposium or Workshop item
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Designing for Fast and Slow Circular Fashion Systems: Exploring Strategies for Multiple and Extended Product Cycles (2015)
- Goldsworthy K. Visions for Future Manufacturing through a Reflective Craft Practice (2014)
- Goldsworthy K, Lewis J, Jones I. Finishing and garment construction of recycled textiles using laser beams (2011)
- Goldsworthy K. Resurfaced: an exploration of 'design for upcycling' through laser finishing for textiles (2010)
- Goldsworthy K. Borrowed materials: designing textiles for a closed-loop polyester economy (2010)
- Goldsworthy K. Upcycling textiles with laser technology (2010)
- Goldsworthy K. Thinking on textiles through cross-disciplinary dialogue (2010)
Report
- Rhoades C, Goldsworthy K, Earley R, Cunningham G. Fixing fashion: follow up, Written evidence submitted by ‘World Circular Textiles Day’ (2020)
- Hornbuckle R, Goldsworthy K. Fixing fashion: follow up, Written evidence submitted by Dr Rosie Hornbuckle (Research Fellow at Centre for Circular Design, University of the Arts London) and Dr Kate Goldsworthy (Reader & Codirector at Centre for Circular Design, University of the Arts London) (2020)
- Goldsworthy K, Earley R, Politowicz K. Circular Design Speeds: prototyping fast and slow sustainable fashion concepts through interdisciplinary design research (2019)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Circular Design Researchers in Residence: a workshops report for the circular design speeds project with Filippa K (2016-2018) (2019)
- 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)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K, Vuletich C, Politowicz K, Ribul M. The Textile Toolbox: New Design Thinking, Materials & Processes for Sustainable Fashion Textiles (2016)
- Goldsworthy K. The case for transforming the approach to waste, and growing a circular economy; a design perspective. (2014)
Show/Exhibition
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Making Circles: Circular Transitions Conference Exhibition (2016)
- Goldsworthy K. reTHINK! (2010)
- Goldsworthy K. Trash fashion: designing out waste (2010)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things (2008)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Techno Threads (2008)
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Textile Toolbox
- Earley R, Goldsworthy K. Taking Time: Craft and the Slow Revolution
Thesis
- Goldsworthy K. Laser-finishing: a new process for designing recyclability in synthetic textiles (2012)
Teaching
Current research students
- Emmeline Child, Scaling-Up Upcycling: Design Systems for Commercial Reuse of Textile Waste Streams. (Joint supervisor)
- Loula Guarin Figueroa, "Exploring how circular design systems could develop new sustainable textile fibres from agro-industrial waste of cacao and coffee in Colombia." (Joint supervisor)
- Helen Paine, Laser Shaping: a method for controlling the elastic behaviour of stretch fabrics for a targeted and graduated compressive effect on the body, Royal College of Art. (Joint supervisor)
- Sanne Visser, Design and the recycling of human hair waste towards a circular bio economy. (Joint supervisor)
Past research students
- 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)
- Miriam Ribul, Material Activism: The role of design research in the scientific development of regenerated textiles in a circular economy. (Lead supervisor)