Staff Profile
Senior Lecturer (Fashion Design)
Academic and professional qualifications
PhD -(MMU) completed in 2012 - The development of a Conceptual Model for Anthropometric Practicies and Applications Regarding Complete Garment Technologies for the UK Women's Knitwear Industry
MSc - (MMU) Completed 2002 - Fashion Product Development with focus on 3D technology and virtual made to measure systems
BA Fashion Design and Textiles (Leeds University) Completed in 1995 -
Previous Employment
Formally, I was an active member of UK’s independent fashion design community, as creative managing director of womenswear brand, Heyday Clothing. The Heyday business was vertically integrated and included a design studio, manufacturing unit and retail units in Manchester and London. In 2001, Keen to develop my interest in innovative practice and the utilisation of new technologies within the fashion industry, I joined MMU and completed an MSc. I was then asked to contribute to a small enterprise team who were developing automated fashion made-to-measure software using 3D body scanning technology.
Undergraduate teaching
Fashion Cultures on L6 Fashion Design and Technology and Fashion Promotion programmes
Postgraduate teaching
Fashion Bodies MA Fashion Design Technology.
A course that aims to challenge assumptions, redefine fashion industry models and create innovative solutions for specific end users. Human centric design is at the core of the unit. Design provocations will demonstrate how design can create fashion futures that apply both technology and consider commercial needs, providing innovative user-focused fashion products and ranges
Postgraduate research supervision
Current PhD supervision
Ruth Eaton - The digital pocket: The written pocket seen through online written commentary.
Zoe Jeffrey - Girls subjective experiences of physical education from a clothing perspective.
Jayne Mechan - The Phygital Body as Fashion Practice: interplay of the torso, technologies and embodied fashion practice
Completed PhD supervision
2020 - Philippa Jackson - The development of Clothing concepts in response to analysis of gendered social attitudes
2019 - Sophie Wood - Treasured Garments: Exploring Value in the Wardrobe
2018 - Nabil El Nayal - The disruptive designer: Elizabethan dress meets contemporary sportswear technology
2017 - Paula Wren - Female gerontology (aged 55+) and its effect on anthropometric landmarking definitions required for body measurement extraction and garment pattern development
External examiner roles
I am currently the external examiner for the BA Fashion design course at Leeds Becket University
Prizes and awards
- PhD
- MSc
- BA
Other distinctions
I am a regular contributor to BBC radio and have been interviewed as an expert in fashion sizing, garment fit, keeping unworn garments and many other fashion related subjects for:
Womens's hour BBC R4
You and Yours BBC R4
A variety of local radio stations.
Research
Research Interests
Research interests include how information is used within technologically dynamic fashion design and the product development processes, including: the use of body measurement within the 3D development of complete garment knitwear, the influence of beauty ideals on design, development and the consumer and the application of colour information within fashion design.
Current collaborative projects include:
- Exploring the use of the body scanner as an intervention tool for body image with professor Sarah Grogan (MMU), Dr Chris Armitage (UoM), Simeon Gill (UoM).
- The use of idealised proportional bodies within design with Ruth Sanderson (MMU) Simeon Gill (UoM).
- Identifying factors that contribute to the development of automated 3D pattern generation using scan data and 3D softwear with professor Susan Ashdown (Cornell University) and Simeon Gill (UoM).
- The development of customised dress forms from scan data with Simeon Gill (UoM), Steve Hayes (MMU) and Katherine Downey (UoM).
Invited Papers
Conference papers
- Gill, S., Parker, C.J., Hayes, S., Brownbridge, K., Wren, P. and Panchenko, A. (2014) ‘The True Height of the Waist: Explorations of Automated Body Scanner Waist Definitions of the TC2 Scanner’ in 5th International Conference on 3D Body Scanning Technologies, Lugano, Switzerland, 21-22 October 2014.
- Gill, S., Wren, P., Brownbridge, K., Hayes, S. and Panchenko, A. (2014) ‘ Practical Considerations of Applying Body Scanning as a Teaching and Research Tool’ in 5th International Conference on 3D Body Scanning Technologies Lugano, Switzerland, 21-22, October 2014.
- Brownbridge, K. Sanderson, R. Gill, S. (2014) Aspirational bodies: fashioning new beauty ideals, 4th Global Conference Beauty Exploring Critical Issues, 20– 22nd September, Mansfield College Oxford UK.
- Brownbridge, K. (2014). Fashioning Knitwear: Case studies in conceptualisation 16th Annual IFFTI conference 27nd – 31st January Bunka University Tokyo Japan.
- Brownbridge, K. Gill, S. and Ashdown, S. (2013) Effectiveness of 3D scanning in establishing sideseam placement for pattern design 4th International Conference in 3D body scanning technologies 19th – 20th November, Long Beach, California US.
- Brownbridge, K. and Gill, S. (2013) The Myth of Standard Sizing, 3rd Global Conference Beauty Exploring Critical Issues, 14th – 15th September, Mansfield College Oxford UK.
- Brownbridge, K. (2013) Complete Garment development in relation to the body, 1st Digital Conference 6th – 7th September, Manchester University UK.
- Brownbridge, K. (2010) Implementation of advanced knitwear technology: fashion, sustainability and innovation’ 12th Annual IFFTI conference Fu Jen University 22nd – 26th April Taiwan.
- Brownbridge, K and Power J. (2010) ‘Anthropometrics and the complete knitted garment’ 86th Textile Institute World Conference Manchester November UK.
Journal articles
- Grogan, S. Gill, S, Brownbridge, K, Kilgariff, S. & Whalley, A. (2012), Dress Fit and Women’s Body Image: A Qualitative Study Qualitative Research in Psychology.
Book chapters
- Brownbridge, K. and Gill, S. (2014) The Truth of Standard Sizing in Downing Peters, L. The Body Beautiful? Identity, Performance, Fashion and the Contemporary Female Body, Interdisciplinary.net
Book Chapters
Venkatraman, P., Tyler, D., 2015. 'Impact-Resistant Materials and Their Potential'. In Materials and Technology for Sportswear and Performance Apparel, pp. 205-230, CRC Press.
Journal Articles
Grogan, S., Gill, S., Brownbridge, K., Kilgariff, S., Whalley, A., 2013. 'Dress fit and body image: a thematic analysis of women's accounts during and after trying on dresses.', Body Image, 10 (3), pp. 380-388.
Conference Papers
Gill, S., Wren, P., Hayes, S., Brownbridge, K., 2014. 'Practical Considerations of Applying Body Scanning as a Teaching and Research Tool', the 5th International Conference on 3D Body Scanning Technologies, Lugano, Switzerland, October 2014, Lugano, Switzerland.
Gill, S., Parker, CJ., Hayes, S., Brownbridge, K., Wren, P., Panchenko, A., 2014. 'The True Height of the Waist: Explorations of Automated Body Scanner Waist Definitions of the TC2 scanner', 5th International Conference on 3D Body Scanning Technologies, Lugano, Switzerland, 21-22 October 2014, Lugano, Switzerland, 21/10/2014 - 22/10/2014, in Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on 3D Body Scanning Technologies, Lugano, Switzerland, 21-22 October 2014, pp. 55-65.
Gill, S., Brownbridge, KM., 2013. 'The Myth of Standard Sizing', Beauty 3 Interdisciplinary.net, Mansfield College, Oxford, UK, 15/9/2013 - 17/9/2013.
Office Location
Room C2.30
Cavendish South
Manchester Fashion Institute
Manchester Metropolitan University
Cavendish Street
Manchester M15 6BG