The National Centre for Fashion and Sustainability
Radical regenerative solutions.
Our mission
The National Centre for Fashion and Sustainability is a space where leading thinkers, learners, businesses and communities will connect and drive the fashion and textile industry toward new, regenerative practices that are healthy for people and the planet.
Bath Spa University is uniquely placed to bring this radical vision to life.
Working in partnership with the Fashion Museum Bath and their world-renowned fashion collection, we're bringing together a heritage legacy, with new, regenerative ways to grow our internationally-acclaimed fashion and textile industry.
But we can't do this alone.
We're led by an inclusive principle that any brand or individual, business or community willing to join us on this transformative journey is welcome.
The National Centre for Fashion and Sustainability will run research and projects that explore every step of the fashion and textile journey, from farming practices, remaking, natural dyeing, zero waste design and garment end of life, to critiquing and transforming economic models, political drivers and new modes of teaching.
Every facet of the industry will be brought to the table, where we can work together to find regenerative solutions.
Fashioning the Future West
We’ve partnered with Fashion Museum Bath and Fashion Roundtable to spearhead a transformative project for the region: Fashioning the Future West.
The project will create the UK's first regenerative fashion and sustainable industries ecosystem. Together with our partners and investors, we’ll foster training, education, research, employment and inclusion.
In the Regency era, Bath was at the forefront of global fashion. Now, our goal is to establish the region as the leader of regenerative fashion and sustainable futures.
Our plans for the project include:
- Creating a permanent location for the Fashion Collection Archive
- Regenerating the Riverside area of Bath, turning it into a Creative Hub
- Establishing multi-purpose enterprise, employability and community spaces.
Our priorities
1. Education
We aim to develop a pipeline to support and amplify the sustainable fashion skills of the West of England, from workshops to Master's degrees.
2. Collaboration
As well as working in partnership with Bath’s world-renowned Fashion Collection Archive and Bath and North East Somerset Council, we invite collaborators throughout the fashion value chain to join us in fostering a culture of sustainability that prioritises environmental stewardship, social equity and economic resilience across multiple disciplines.
3. Enterprise
We want to help people start up sustainable fashion businesses through entrepreneurial business incubation and support.
4. Community
A wide programme of engagement will enable local community groups and schools to use the Centre’s facilities.
Accessible activities will provide a wider offer for people in local areas, engaging with creativity and the creative industries supporting employability, wellbeing and contributing to regeneration and placemaking.
5. Research
The National Centre for Fashion and Sustainability will be pioneering hub for research, thought leadership, education, global change and industry engagement.
A regenerative ecosystem
Imagine fashion students, creatives, founders and community members collaborating, designing and making in a multipurpose space.
Our ambitious plans include:
- Establishing a hub for research, thought leadership, education, global change and industry engagement
- Creating multi-purpose enterprise, employability and community spaces.
News and events
Fashion Roundtable partners with BSU
24 September 2024
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Fashion Roundtable's policy expertise will support the National Centre for Fashion and Sustainability to deliver impactful change to power a transition to sustainable fashion futures.
The Red Dress is exhibited at Locksbrook Campus
23–27 September 2024
From 2009 to 2023, 87 pieces of burgundy silk dupion travelled the globe being continuously embroidered onto. Together, they now form The Red Dress, which is on display in the Michael Pennie Gallery at Locksbrook Campus from 23–27 September 2024.
BSU supports the inaugural Bath Fashion Festival
21–22 September 2024
Alongside the National Centre for Fashion and Sustainability, BSU is sponsoring Bath Fashion Festival, deepening the University’s connection to the local and international fashion industries.
Bath Spa University named as flagship hub for Sustainable Fashion Week 2024
20–27 September 2024
BSU, Fashion Roundtable and the National Centre for Fashion and Sustainability are headline partners for Sustainable Fashion Week 2024. This year's theme is The Power of Repair.
Alongside panellists such as Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey and designer Rahemur Rahman, Professor Tamara Cincik discusses initiatives that are furthering sustainability in the sector and the business fatigue for those trying to keep up.
BSU's Professor of Fashion and Sustainability Tamara Cincik welcomes Patrick Grant, esteemed fashion designer and Great British Sewing Bee judge, to a sold-out discussion about the importance of sustainable fashion.
Fashion Roundtable partners with BSU
24 September 2024
Fashion Roundtable's policy expertise will support the National Centre for Fashion and Sustainability to deliver impactful change to power a transition to sustainable fashion futures.
The Red Dress is exhibited at Locksbrook Campus
23–27 September 2024
From 2009 to 2023, 87 pieces of burgundy silk dupion travelled the globe being continuously embroidered onto. Together, they now form The Red Dress, which is on display in the Michael Pennie Gallery at Locksbrook Campus from 23–27 September 2024.
BSU supports the inaugural Bath Fashion Festival
21–22 September 2024
Alongside the National Centre for Fashion and Sustainability, BSU is sponsoring Bath Fashion Festival, deepening the University’s connection to the local and international fashion industries.
Bath Spa University named as flagship hub for Sustainable Fashion Week 2024
20–27 September 2024
BSU, Fashion Roundtable and the National Centre for Fashion and Sustainability are headline partners for Sustainable Fashion Week 2024. This year's theme is The Power of Repair.
Alongside panellists such as Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey and designer Rahemur Rahman, Professor Tamara Cincik discusses initiatives that are furthering sustainability in the sector and the business fatigue for those trying to keep up.
BSU's Professor of Fashion and Sustainability Tamara Cincik welcomes Patrick Grant, esteemed fashion designer and Great British Sewing Bee judge, to a sold-out discussion about the importance of sustainable fashion.
FAQs
What is the Fashion Collection Archive?
A world-class collection of almost 100,000 objects that capture the history of fashion. Most of the collection is currently in storage.
A collection of this quality requires secure, museum grade storage that preserves it for future generations. This development will provide a permanent home for the FCA in Bath, allowing local, regional and national audiences to access and enjoy it.
Where is the National Centre for Fashion and Sustainability based?
We’ll be opening a physical space in Bath soon.
The South West is a hub of creative, regenerative businesses – most of them operating on a micro scale. These tiny businesses have an enormous impact.
Opening in Spring 2025: A new space in central Bath
We're delighted to announce our plans to open a curated retail store offering a mix of sustainable fashion brands, artisanal design and lifestyle products created by BSU students and graduates, as well as local and UK-based creative businesses, alongside a dedicated area for fashion and craft-focused workshops.
The project aims to support makers and SMEs from the South West by:
- Nurturing emerging fashion and design talent
- Connecting BSU to the creative industry
- Boosting the region’s creative capital with BSU as a catalyst for change.
It offers a unique space to collaborate with our students and the wider university community. We will test initiatives and develop links with the sustainable fashion industry, and utilise the space for ongoing collaborations with Fashion Museum Bath.
The space will showcase our ambition for the Centre and embody BSU’s core values of creativity, culture, and enterprise.
We want to hear from staff, alumni and students at BSU who would like to be involved. Whether you have a small brand we can support, know of a brilliant sustainable fashion initiative, or have an idea for a workshop you can teach, please let us know.
We will assemble a working group of key stakeholders across the university to focus on different working streams within the space. For more information, please email ncfs@bathspa.ac.uk.
About us
Bath Spa University was awarded Social Inclusion University of the Year by The Times Good University Guide 2024. We have been awarded the Social Enterprise Gold Mark and are the 17th greenest university in the UK. This, our strong track record for securing research and funding grants, positions BSU as the primary delivery organisation for this project.
Our partners
- Bath Fashion Museum and the Fashion Collection Archive
- Bath and North East Somerset Council (B&NES)
Collaborate with us
If you're a brand, individual, business or community willing to join us on this transformative journey, we'd love to hear from you.
Please get in touch by emailing ncfs@bathspa.ac.uk.