Laura is an R&D Fellow in Textile Science and Technology at the UAL Fashion Textiles and Technology Institute, where she works at the interface of industry, higher education research and knowledge exchange to shape an R&D agenda in technical textiles. This includes commercial research and consultancy, building on her background in textile R&D and manufacturing facilities, working on product development and leading textile science R&D projects. Laura has worked as Project Lead on an SME R&D Project with Ananas Anam, supported by the Business of Fashion, Textiles and Technology Creative R&D Partnership, where she supported the business in exploring new functionality and applications of a bio-based non-woven and sustainable material. She went on to support Ananas Anam in further R&D funded by Innovate UK investigating sustainable alternatives for Covid-19 PPE.

Dr Raquel Prado-Garcia is now a Sustainability and Research manager at Ananas Anam. She graduated as a Chemist (Biscay campus) and years later obtained a PhD under the program “Renewable materials engineering” (Gipuzkoa campus) at the University of the Basque Country. She worked as a research associate at Imperial College London for 4 years. Her research topic was about increasing sustainability in biorefinery processes. She is a PhD co-supervisor. She is a full member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC) and has been a member of various COST actions related to biomass processing. Her role at Ananas Anam is related to the environmental part of the sustainability and technical performance of the material.

Kate is Professor of Circular Design and Innovation and Co-Director of the Centre for Circular Design at UAL, a world-leading research centre using practice research to innovate, steer and support circular economies and communities around the globe. Kate’s design research operates at the intersection of materials science with design and sustainability principles. As industry and Governments raise the priority of sustainable business, Kate has undertaken a range of industrial consultancy projects for fashion and textiles organisations including Worn Again Technologies Ltd, Filippa K, VF Corporation and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Core skills and competences include:

• Laser finishing for fashion and textiles
• Circular economy and circular design research
• Sustainable business consultancy in the fashion sector

Helen is a Research and Development Project Lead on the BFTT project working with Ananas Anam. She completed her PhD at The Royal College of Art in 2016, which partnered with industry to develop new applications for advanced textile joining technologies. She has since worked at Centre for Circular Design (UAL) as a Research Assistant on Mistra Future Fashion and a Research Fellow with London Doctoral Design Centre (LDoc). Helen’s approach to design research links with industry to explore new material futures through a sustainability lens and bridges between engineering and design disciplines. She has experience working as a consultant for sportswear and automotive clients, including Pentland Brands. Alongside BFTT Helen works as a Lecturer on the BA Textile Design course at Chelsea College of Arts with a focus on Professional Development. Core skills and competencies include:

• Applied materials R&D
• Textile joining and surfacing technologies
• Circular design research