In an age of staggering consumerism and increased environmental consciousness how can we begin to develop the textiles for the future? Chaired by technology and culture journalist Jemima Kiss, material scientist Dr Elif Yenigun, artist and sustainable innovator Alice Potts and Dr Carmen Hijosa, founder of Piñatex, an innovative natural textile made from pineapple leaf fibre, as they share their thoughts on this important matter.

Please note that this event takes place in the Safra Lecture Theatre, King's College London, Strand Campus, WC2R 2LS.

Doors for the event will open at 6pm, no admittance before this time.

Our speakers:

Alice Potts is a designer and material investigator. Currently investigating the future of sustainable materials in fashion accessories: https://www.onassis.org/whats-on/sweat-athens

Dr. Elif Ozden Yenigun is Senior Tutor in textiles at the Royal College of Art. She is material scientist interested in nanoengineered aerospace composites, smart wearables and 3D textile preforms. Her research focuses on developing cutting-edge textile based materials and manufacturing methods that enable the design of more novel and optimized engineered systems and products.

Dr. Carmen Hijosa, is an ethical entrepreneur with a background in leathergoods design and manufacturing. Originally from Spain, Carmen worked as an industry consultant, and was brought to the Philippines by the Design Centre in the 1990s, where the journey of Piñatex® began. Piñatex® is an innovative natural textile made from pineapple leaf, offering a fibre based textile solution: https://www.ananas-anam.com/

We are very pleased, that this panel will be chaired by Jemima Kiss, a freelance journalist, writer and editor based in San Francisco. Jemima has covered technology, media and culture for 18 years and spent ten years at The Guardian, most recently as head of technology editorial in London and then on the West Coast. She has worked with Medium, Ideo, Slack, and Index Ventures. She has a fine art degree from Dartington College of Arts (BA visual performance), and is a board member of the British Journalism Review.

This event has been programmed as part of a series to accompany the exhibition UNBOUND: Visionary Women Collecting Textiles. For more public events, please click here.