Future Fashion Factory's 2nd call generates £693,000

25 Apr '20

2 min read

Pic: Future Fashion Factory's

Future Fashion Factory’s second innovation funding call has been successful in generating more than £693,000 investment in research and development for the industry. The successful projects will enable businesses to access the expertise of Future Fashion Factory researchers at the University of Leeds, University of Huddersfield, and Royal College of Art.

Yorkshire textile mills, independent fashion brands and manufacturers have all contributed to this.

Future Fashion Factory will launch its third call on April 30, for businesses of all sizes and specialisms working in the fashion and textile industry.

“Our funding calls see companies collaborating with researchers to tackle major challenges,” Future Fashion Factory said.

The successful projects include building a digital data archive of historic fabric designs (Abraham Moon & Sons, Guiseley), developing a predictive model to determine the right-first-time settings for weaving high-value fabrics based on the fabric specification (Bower Roebuck, Holmfirth), Wireless 3D-zoned heaters that can be printed onto garments (Conductive Transfers, Barnsley), finding a second life for automotive leather in the fashion industry (HSSMI, London), exploring immersive communication techniques to support growth of independent fashion brands (Nomad Designerwear, Barnsley), identifying digital technologies to upscale hand-crafted garment production (Something Wicked, Leeds), and detecting weft misalignment in the fabric finishing process with an intelligent sensory system (WT Johnson, Huddersfield).

“Collaboration is crucial to address the challenges faced by the fashion and textile industry,” said Professor Stephen Russell, Future Fashion Factory’s director.

“We are proud to deliver projects bringing researchers and companies together, enabling them to share expertise and develop innovative products,” Russell said. “The UK has a world-class fashion and textile industry, full of highly skilled professionals known for the quality of their products. These projects will help UK businesses to increase their competitive edge in a changing global landscape, creating value and ultimately driving economic growth,” Russell added.

In August 2019, Future Fashion Factory announced that nine projects had been approved as part of Innovation Funding Call 1, representing over £645,000 investment. These projects are either in delivery or complete.

Future Fashion Factory researches and develops advanced digital and textile technologies to transform the industry’s agility in the luxury fashion design process, and ability to shift to circular economies.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SV)

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