Centre for Sustainable Fashion is Changing

Dear valued friends, colleagues, partners and associates,  

We have important news to share with you. 

As of April 2026, Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF), the world-leading education, research and knowledge exchange centre based at London College of Fashion (LCF), University of the Arts London (UAL), will change shape significantly from its past 18 years of identity. Recognised for its significant world-changing contributions, a review of Research and Knowledge Exchange at LCF has resulted in the college decision that CSF will focus primarily on research. This means changes and closure of roles across our education, knowledge exchange, and strategy teams. We wanted to share this with you so that you know who will be staying at the Centre and who will be leaving.  

We would like to thank all our colleagues, partners, associates and friends for the great work we have done together to date, evidenced through the Centre’s role in transforming fashion education, research and sector practice across UAL, and throughout the world. Our free online courses are accessed by over 100 000 learners in 195 countries, our resources for tutors and sector players are globally read and applied. Always in partnership, the Centre has led globally recognised design for sustainability practice, as seen through our more than 12-year trusted partnership with Kering, and long-term alliances with ASOS, Condé Nast, Burberry, Global Fashion Agenda, The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and many other organisations. All this systemic change work is based on the Centre’s ecological, social, cultural and economic prosperity framework.   

After 18 years of establishing, guiding and applying the Centre’s world-recognised and world-changing principles and practices, our founder and director Professor Dilys Williams has made the decision to pass the baton and move on from her role. Dilys will continue to explore fashion as a means of living well together in a more than human world, in new places and ways. We wish to acknowledge and celebrate all she continues to stand up for. Dilys will continue to champion the Centre and advise the university through a new role as Professor Emerita. 

The spirit of CSF is demonstrated through each member’s contributions, each bringing knowledges, capabilities and skills that have shaped CSF into what it is today. In turn, each of us has been shaped by CSF’s values and practices of care. We wish to acknowledge and celebrate the work of our colleagues Nina Stevenson, Naomi Bulliard, Ella Andrew, Charley Copperthwaite, Anna Fitzpatrick, Eve Flitman, Constance Jeffreys, Camilla Palestra and Hannah Riley - highly respected academics and professionals, who have achieved great impact. Due to the restructure, they are moving on to new ventures.  

As shifts take place at UAL and more broadly in the world, the work of CSF will continue under the new LCF structure. This work will be taken forward by our highly valued colleagues: Professor Sandy Black, Dr. Mila Burcikova, Dr. Francesco Mazzarella, Dr. Jade McSorley, Dr. Seher Mirza, Professor Lucy Orta and Professor Helen Storey who will continue developing their vital work in this new context. 

The questions CSF was founded to ask, about what fashion is for, who it serves, what it costs and what it contributes to the world, are more urgent than ever. That urgency moves, as it always has, through the people committed to carrying it. We are witnessing a juncture where landscapes are changing in the world around us, in our societies, politics, and cultures. We have come a long way, we have far to go. The critical work of sustainability requires radical hope and transformation of cultures, economies, societies and our relationship with our more than human identities.  

To continue the urgent work that the Earth and our communities need from us is difficult. Yet, as a collective whose professional and personal lives have brought expertise, commitment and care to work that matters, we are committed to carrying it ahead, inside and outside of its original home at LCF.   

Solidarity is core to work that is challenging and joyful, and is necessary for equity and vitality. We ask for your patience as we change shape and navigate these changes within our community. Nothing stops here, indeed, for each and all of us; our ambitions are bolder than ever. 

As a marker of all the wonderful work - past, present and future - we are publishing ‘Drawing Lines of Care’, a publication exploring how we cultivate care and solidarity through acts of joyful resistance. This publication collates contributions from Centre members, associates, colleagues, partners and friends, and other valued fellow travellers. ‘Drawing Lines of Care’ will be published on 16th April 2026, details to follow. 

We look forward to staying connected with you on the next steps in our journeys in interdependence.