Fashion Technology

The Manchester Fashion Institute Innovation Lab – including computerised fabric and pattern cutting, seaming with and without threads, numerically-controlled embroidery and 3D body scanning – is central to our fashion technology research. Anthropometrics, sustainability and the Circular Economy have been a long-standing strength with many live projects including linkages between 2D and 3D design, designing for reduced waste and reuse, developing novel biodegradable materials, providing a knowledge base for niche crafts, and addressing the challenges of recovering value from discarded textiles. Wearable technologies is an emerging specialism with a current focus on incorporating electrical stimulation to garments to enhance health and fitness. Recent work has focused on wearables made from textile materials.