Circular Fashion Technologies

Dr Lisa Lake is director of the Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Fashion & Textiles, a UTS partnership with TAFE NSW. She is a pioneer in the Australian sustainable fashion movement, having authored Sustainability with Style in 2012, and co-founded Clean Cut, an organisation that brought the first sustainable fashion show to Australian Fashion Week in 2014. Lake helped develop the sustainability strategy for the University of Sydney and previously led the marketing team at the Green Building Council of Australia.

Dr Mark Liu is a fashion and textile designer best known for pioneering zero-waste designs during his master’s research at Central Saint Martin’s College, London, and while working at Alexander McQueen. His collections have been exhibited in museums around the world. His PhD research used 3D mathematics to invent the field of ‘non-Euclidean fashion patternmaking’, which enables scientists and engineers to understand patternmaking while working on advancements in the fields of 3D patternmaking algorithms and 3D printing, which can be applied to space suits and medical garments. A former Chancellor’s postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Technology Sydney, he collaborated across disciplines to explore equitable gender laws in the fast fashion industry, synthetic biology and algae-based carbon sequestering materials. His 2023 book Sustainable Fashion Greenwash exposes the misleading advertising of ‘sustainable’ fashion.

Courtney Holm is the founder of experimental circular fashion label A.BCH and online surplus fabric marketplace Circular Sourcing, both based in West Melbourne. Holm draws on her expertise in circular design for clothing to champion circular systems and practical approaches for reducing waste in the fashion industry, motivating businesses and individuals to strive for sustainable and equitable futures. Her passion for transforming the industry drives her to develop and promote circular design frameworks, improved sourcing practices and radical approaches to post-purchase lifecycle planning She regularly collaborates with industry, government and non-government agencies, as well as individuals. A natural educator committed to empowering future generations, she also lectures within the Sustainable Innovation and Fashion degrees at RMIT School of Fashion and Textiles. Holm graduated with First Class Honours in Fashion and Textile Design at the University of Technology Sydney in 2012.

Amy Low is focused on delivering sustainable solutions for the fashion industry. She draws on decades of experience in fashion,retail, product development and branding as Brand and Marketing Director of Australian surf brand Piping Hot and Vice Chair for The Social Outfit. Since July 2021, Piping Hot has demonstrated its commitment to transparency, circularity and reducing ocean impact by making all products with low-impact materials. Piping Hot is investing in material innovation, including commissioning research with UTS to develop a biobased fibre made with algae that could transform the textile industry. Piping Hot was recently named in the Australian Financial Review’s 2022 Sustainability Leaders list.

Wajiha Pervez is an experimental textile designer, artist, curator and academic. She researches apparel, materials, systems, and cultural practices in the context of environmental sustainability and circular economy. Her work celebrates the collaboration between materials, technology, and craft to create products for a sustainable future. Her work has been showcased in galleries, museums, design weeks, exhibitions and conferences in Australia, Dubai, Qatar, Italy, Russia, the U.K, & Iran.