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Courses / Modules / ARTD1144 Principles of Sustainability, Luxury & Artisanship

Principles of Sustainability, Luxury & Artisanship

When you'll study it
Semester 1
CATS points
30
ECTS points
15
Level
Level 4
Module lead
Charlotte Ellis
Academic year
2025-26

Module overview

This module will introduce you to the three principles of this programme – Sustainability, Luxury and Ethical Artisanship in relation to Textiles, including knit, weave, print, stitch, felting and dyeing textiles for apparel, interior, lifestyle, function, wellbeing, utility, sports and transport.

Within this module you will explore the theory around the three pillars of sustainability, environmental, social and economic. You will be introduced to the contexts, issues and activities of environmental sustainability, climate and animal welfare in the textile industry. You will become familiar with the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals and what the current industry is doing to reduce, reuse and recycle and how it is looking in the future. You will be shown how to apply critical thinking to re-evaluate and re-imagine textile design and making to integrate sustainability.

You will explore the meaning and values of luxury and gain insight into the complex world of luxury and the relationship between luxury and sustainability. You will learn how to critically analyse the sustainability of luxury textile materials, processes, equipment and technologies.

You will discover the meaning and culture of ethical artisanship and how heritage crafts, provenance and traditional customs have been developed by artisans throughout history, all over the world. You will gain insight in how artisanship understands and values sustainability and you will assess why artisanal textiles belong to the world of luxury.

You will be introduced to the basic techniques of making textiles, the materials and processes and the extensive end uses for textiles in the different sectors of the industry. You will start to build and practice your textile techniques over the course of this semester, before developing and refining further over the course of this programme.

This module is the start of your learning journey on this programme, providing the groundwork for the programme, it will introduce you to the core topics and teach you about the fundamental materials, processes and techniques for making sustainable, luxury, ethical textiles.