Sarah Braddock-Clarke

Qualifications

Honors and awards

Research interests and expertise

Research expertise resides in the world of materials and soft/ flexible engineering relating to the human body. These areas have been a focus in my published works, curation of exhibitions, and consultancy over several decades. Applications to fashion and performance sportswear design, where aesthetics and functions fuse, are a significant focus. Japanese design informs my creative design thinking, where approaches from both the East and the West are valued.

Sarah is especially interested in supervising students in areas that include materials research (naturals and technicals – flexible, soft-engineered materials), fashion/ sport/ body-related expressions, and research into wide-spanning creative practices that engage with East-West cultures.

Research topics

• Fashion Design and its links to the wider world of Design, Craft, and Art.
• Sportswear and Performance – by way of materials, construction, finish.
• Material Futures - New Fibres and Fabrics – Naturals and Technicals.
• New Flexible Materials for Protection – the Human Body and Architecture.
• Textile Design – Woven, Knitted, and Embellished.
• Technologies – Ancient and Advanced Ways of Constructing and Finishing.
• Japanese Avant-garde Fashion Design.
• Japanese Aesthetics and Design.
• Links between the Occident and the Orient.
• Design Thinking and Creating.
• Research as Creative Practice.

Publications and research outputs:

Books

• Byzantine Silk on the Silk Roads: Journeys between East and West, Past and Present, published by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc – Bloomsbury Visual Arts. (Hardcover, paperback UK/Europe, USA/Australia/New Zealand, 2022). Byzantine Silk on the Silk Roads has been licensed by Bloomsbury Visual Arts to Chinese (simplified) language rights to a Chinese publisher (December 2022).
• Digital Visions for Fashion + Textiles: Made in Code, published by Thames & Hudson Ltd. (Hardcover – UK 24 September 2012 and USA 12 November 2012, plus French translation).
• Techno Textiles 2: Revolutionary Fabrics for Fashion and Design, published by Thames & Hudson Ltd. (Hardcover, 2005; paperback 2007).
• Future Textiles: Fast Wear for Sport & Fashion (co-author), published by The Hub: National Centre for Craft & Design, Lincolnshire. (August 2005).
• Edge: The Influence of Sportswear (co-author), published by Oksnehallen, Copenhagen (January 2002).
• SportsTech: Revolutionary Fabrics, Fashion & Design, published by Thames & Hudson Ltd. (Hardcover 2002; paperback 2003, plus German and Korean translations).
• Fabric of Fashion (co-author) - exhibition catalogue for a British Council touring exhibition 2000-2002, published by the British Council in English, Danish, Dutch, Czech and Russian. This publication won the Design and Art Direction (D&AD) Award. (November 2000).
• Inspiration and Innovation in Sportswear (co-author), published by Interstoff, Frankfurt. (March 1999).
• Techno Textiles: Revolutionary Fabrics for Fashion and Design, published by Thames & Hudson Ltd. (Hardcover 1998; paperback 1999, plus Italian and Korean translations).
• 2010: Textiles and New Technology (co-editor and contributing writer), published by Artemis, London. (September 1994).

Book sections

• Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of World Textiles – Volume 10 – Textile Futures, editors - Janis Jefferies and Vivienne Richmond. Chapter – (4,200 words, 8 images) Nature as a Source for Future Super-natural Textiles. The publication is planned for 2026 by Bloomsbury Academic, London and New York.
• Smart Clothes and Wearable Technology (Second Edition) edited by Jane McCann and David Bryson and published by Elsevier, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Cambridge and London UK. Opening Chapter – Clothing + Embedded Technology: Past Challenges, Future Opportunities of Part One – Developments in the Design of Smart Clothing and Wearable Technology. Published as a paperback book (626 pages) and as an electronic book (searchable PDF) - 16 September 2022. ISBN: 9780128195260 (print). ISBN: 9780128205778 (online).
• E-books (co-author): - 3D Printing and Digital Fabrication Resource eBook (2nd Edition), published by 3D Printing for Everyone (3DP4E) - Digital Visions for Fashion + Textiles: Made In Code included in Chapter 2: Art, as a top resource for 3D Printing. (Paperback, July 2015).
• Fashion Futures by design journalist Bradley Quinn, published by Merrell Publishers Ltd., London, New York. Chapter 2 - Power and Performance (pages 90 & 91) that featured second-skin apparel/ protective clothing/ high-performance sportswear/ material innovation. (March 2012).
• Kaunas Biennial Textile ’11. Rewind - Play - Fast Forward for the exhibition section Rewind Into the Future – an illustrated chapter. Published by Kaunas Biennial, Lithuania in English and Lithuanian, EU funding (September 2011).

Externally funded research grants

Research award from Falmouth University for research undertaken in Japan - working towards the Byzantine Silk book published by Bloomsbury Visual Arts. (2015).

Research award from Goldsmiths, University of London for research undertaken in Japan - working towards the Techno Textiles book published by Thames & Hudson. (1995).

Research award from the Cabinet Office, London and the Arts Council, London, and the Crafts Council, London towards the staging of the 2010: Textiles and New Technology exhibition and accompanying catalogue. (1994).

Current research students

Previous student supervision

Co-Supervisor on PhD Supervising Team for Sophie Zajicek – 3D3 student at the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol. Research title - Investigating the design of 3D woven materials for the Circular Economy (October 2017 - August 2023).

Supervisor as Subject Specialist on PhD Supervising Team for Julie Ripley at Falmouth University. Research title - To Catch a Wave: The Development of Cultural and Commercial Communities Around Devon and Cornwall’s Visual and Material Surfing Heritage (October 2012 – September 2018).

Number of research students supervised to completion

Research degrees examined

• External Examiner for practice-based PhD Thesis, Tsai Chun Huang,
• In-Between Pleats: Pleats, Pleating and ‘Pliable Logic’, School of Design, Royal College of Art, London. (October 2019 – July 2020).
• External Examiner for practice-based PhD Thesis, University of Ulster, Belfast, Northern Ireland. (December 2007).
• External Examiner for practice-based PhD Thesis, Brunel University, London. (July 2005).

Number of research degree examinations

Engagement with organisations which contribute to the development of educational, cultural or socio-economic policies in Cornwall

• Byzantine Silk on the Silk Roads: Journeys between East and West, Past and Present, a 90-minute lecture/ Q&A session at the Morrab Library, Penzance, Cornwall. (26 July 2023).
• FTI representative for the International Office to promote both Falmouth University and FTI internationally, working as an ambassador for the respective creative degrees. Visits to date include Bucharest, Romania for ‘Study in Arts’, November 2018 and ‘Future Days - Fashion Me’, November 2017 - events that each attracted more than 1,000 students from Romania. My testimonial for this event features on the organisations’ website. Also, visited various institutions in Stockholm/ Gothenburg/ Borås, Sweden in 2018, liaising with Falmouth University’s International Office and Your Study Advisor, a Swedish-based company. These visits are strategic for recruitment as well as creating and facilitating Erasmus exchanges for both staff and students. (2017 - 2021).
• Wear It Well: Exploring the Future of the Clothing Industry – A Future Focus Event organised by Unlocking Potential and the University of Exeter, a 1-day symposium, Tregenna Castle, St. Ives, Cornwall with guest speakers, Falmouth University Fashion Design/Sportswear Design graduates and workshops for Cornish business leaders - the aim being to create/ sustain employment in UK (and specifically Cornwall) in fashion/textiles related areas. Funded by the European Regional Development Fund. For this event I selected and organised speakers and exhibitors and introduced graduates and contributed to the Q&A panel discussion. (3 May 2018).
• Down by the Sea Festival, Holywell Bay, Cornwall. Invited Judge (with Dr. Lucy Frears, Falmouth University), Beauty & Style Pageant. (September 2016).
• Invited Judge (solo and with Dr. Lucy Frears) – from the 7th World Bellyboard Championships 2009 – Best Female and Male Vintage Swimwear to the 13th World Bellyboard Championships 2015 – Best Female and Male Vintage Swimwear. This annual event is organised and hosted by the National Trust and held at Chapel Porth, Cornwall. (September 2009 - September 2015).
• Tate St. Ives, St. Ives, Cornwall – book launch for Digital Visions for Fashion + Textiles: Made in Code. (November 2012).
• Cornwall Design Season – Dott Cornwall. Invited Judge for this Design Council initiative as a celebration of Cornwall’s creativity and ingenuity. (October 2010).
• Fish & Text (invited joint exhibition). St. Ives Library Gallery, Cornwall (May 2010).
• A Squared. A = America. A = Africa (invited joint exhibition). St. Ives Library Gallery, Cornwall. (May 2007).
• Tate St. Ives - Chair for Common Ground Project – interviewer and seminar lead discussion with artist Richard Long and writer Peter Kirby. (April 2007).
• Falmouth University/ Hidden Art Cornwall, Creative Skills and 3D Digital Production Research Cluster – Guest Speaker – Future Textiles - Future Making with Digital Technologies. (March 2007).
• Truro Art Society – Guest Speaker – Techno Textiles: Fashion and Art. (March 2007).
• Movies, Entertainment and More. Spring Gallery. Falmouth Arts Centre, Cornwall – invited exhibitor at the 2005 Cornwall Film Festival. (November 2005).

Independent professional practice

• Make It Mine. FutureWear. Millennium Centre, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. USA. Curator for VF Corporation. (20 - 23 March 2012).
• Rewind Into the Future, Kaunas Biennial Textile ’11, M. Zilinskas Art Gallery, Kaunas, Lithuania. Curator. (September - December 2011).
• Future Textiles: Fast Wear for Sport & Fashion, The HUB: National Centre for Craft & Design, Lincolnshire. Co-curator. (August - October 2005).
• Edge: The Influence of Sportswear, Oksnehallen, Copenhagen. Co-curator. (January - March 2002).
• Fabric of Fashion. Co-curator of this touring exhibition by the British Council - London, Helsinki, Tallinn, Moscow, Warsaw, Copenhagen, Prague, and Utrecht. (2000 - 2002).
• 2010: Textiles and New Technology. Co-curator of this touring exhibition by the Crafts Council - London, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Manchester, Dublin, and Tilburg, the Netherlands. (1994 - 1996).

Social, community and cultural engagement

• Wear It Well: Exploring the Future of the Clothing Industry, In: Wear It Well: Exploring the Future of the Clothing Industry – A Future Focus Event Tregenna Castle, St. Ives, Cornwall. (3 May 2018).
• IFFTI 2017 (International Federation of Fashion & Textiles Institutes) hosted by AMFI (Amsterdam Fashion Institute) – Breaking the Fashion Rules, a three-day conference on fashion, industry and education. Interviewed and photographed by for an illustrated article The Future of Fashion is You, AMFI Magazine. (March 2017).
• The New Millennium - Future Fabrics for Fashion, In: The New Millennium Era: The Future of Textiles, Tokyo Zokei University, Tokyo, Japan. (23 June 2016).
• Swarovski Headquarters, Wattens, near Innsbruck, Austria – The Future of Fashion (2-day event), conference presentation – New Materials, New Technologies – The Future. (February 2013).
• Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA), Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA – contributor, Future Brain-Storming. (March 2012).
• Member of the Expert Panel for The Odyssey Network (a US-based group working for VF Corporation) –weekly global conference calls with The Odyssey Network representatives and the selected eight international specialists/ curators (of which I was one) on the future of materials and relationship to body-related items – fashion, sportswear, and accessories (December 2010 - July 2011).
• M. Zilinskas Art Gallery, Kaunas, Lithuania – Chair/ Presenter – The Future of Textiles. (September 2011).
• National Museum of M.K. Ciurlionis, Kaunas, Lithuania – Guest Speaker – The Future of Textiles is Sensory and Interactive: Acoustic Textiles – Interactive Textiles – Media Textiles at the 16th European Textile Network (ETN) Conference 2011. (September 2011).
• Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery – Guest Speaker at the Japanese Sashiko Textiles conference – The Japanese Avant-Garde: Textiles meets Fashion (September 2010).
• Yonsei University, Seoul – Invited Plenary Speaker at 125th Anniversary conference - Techno Textiles: Sport & Fashion – Function & Style. (May 2010).
• Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel – Guest Speaker – Textile Digital conference. (October 2009).
• Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW), Hamburg – Guest Speaker/ Workshop Organiser – Humanising the Digital conference. (November 2008).
• Stroudwater International Textile Festival, Stroud – Keynote Speaker – The New Flexibles at the 21st Century Textiles conference. (May 2008).
• Victoria & Albert Museum, London – Guest Speaker – New Technologies / New Textiles, Dress and Textile Specialists (DATS) conference. (November 2007).
• European Textile Network (ETN) Digital Craft conference, London – Keynote Speaker – Humanising the Digital. (September 2007).
• Tate St. Ives - Chair for Common Ground Project – Interviewer of artist Richard Long and writer Peter Kirby. (April 2007).
• Falmouth University/ Hidden Art Cornwall conference – Guest Speaker – Future Textiles - Future Making with Digital Technologies. (March 2007).
• Institute of Contemporary Arts, London – Guest Speaker – What is the Future for Textiles? conference – Textile Futures Research Group, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. (March 2007).
• Invited Member - Panel of International Conference Committee & Board of Referees, Pixel Raiders2 conference, Sheffield Hallam University. (April 2004).
• Co-Chair – European Textile Network 4th (ETN) conference, Budapest – New Materials and Technologies. (1994).
• London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London – Chair/ Guest Speaker, Digital Fashion international conference. (No date – between 1990 and 2007).
• Collins Gallery, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow - Chair/ Guest Speaker – Digital Perceptions international conference. (No date – between 1990 and 2007).
• The Hub: National Centre for Craft & Design, UK - Co-Organiser/ Co-Chair – Future Fabrics international conference. (No date – between 1990 and 2007).

Engagement with professional associations and societies

• Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society Limited (ALCS), London. (August 2005 - present).
• Public Lending Right (PLR), British Library, Stockton-on-Tees. (September 2002 - present).

Professional esteem indicators