Patrick Grant on sustainable fashion

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Welcoming a star of The Great British Sewing Bee to Bath

Thursday, 27 June, 2024

As the current series of BBC's The Great British Sewing Bee stitches its way into the hearts of viewers, Bath Spa University’s Professor Tamara Cincik welcomed the show’s esteemed judge, Patrick Grant, to Bath and a sold-out talk about the importance of sustainable fashion. 

Famed as a respected fashion designer and founder of Community Clothing alongside his television accolades, Patrick Grant visited St Swithin’s Church on Wednesday 26 June to talk about his new book ‘Less: Stop Buying So Much Rubbish’.  

This passionate and revealing book set the pattern for Wednesday's enlightening talk on finding a sustainable way forward for fashion. In it he expresses his love of clothes but despairs of a broken global fashion system. A despair we share at Bath Spa University. 

He explored the crisis of consumption and the importance of quality in fashion, and how valuing craftsmanship and local manufacturing matters for all our futures. And ultimately, how we might make ourselves happier by rediscovering the joy of living with fewer, better-quality things.

Photo credit: Chris Floyd

Bath Spa University is no stranger to the impact fashion is having on the environment. In fact, we’re taking a pioneering approach to unpicking the staggering 10% of global carbon emissions generated by the fashion industry. We’re establishing the National Centre for Fashion and Sustainability (NCFS), an innovative space where leading thinkers, learners, businesses and communities will connect and drive the fashion and textile industry toward new, regenerative practices that will be healthy for people and the planet. 

With an intertwined goal of finding a happier and healthier way forward for fashion lovers, there was no better place for our Professor of Fashion and Sustainability and Director of the NCFS, Tamara Cincik, to take to the stage. She opened this ever more important talk about why we need to pin down a sustainable solution for the clothes we wear and enjoy every day. 
 
Reflecting on the opportunity to open the talk by the renowned Sewing Bee judge, Professor Cincik said:  

"Patrick is a fantastic advocate for British made and UK talent. His work: from the Sewing Bee, to E Tautz, Norton and Sons and Community Clothing, shows that whether it is make your own, working with local communities or right through to Savile Row, Patrick understands the issues facing UK made talent, what we need to do to support it and why buying things that will last is the best for you and your wardrobe.  

As a fellow advocate of localism, supporting homegrown talent and working within planetary boundaries with creative dignity, I am excited to see Patrick in Bath.” 

Are you looking to put your stamp on a more sustainable future for the fashion industry? Our fashion courses could be the first step.