Green Gown Awards 2014 - Enterprise - University of the Arts London - Highly Commended

Centre for Sustainable Fashion: Nike Making Project

The Nike Making Project brought together designers, scientists, coders and students to hack the material system and find ways of de-coupling successful design from degradation of nature. Using problem-based techniques and the Nike Materials Sustainability Index, together it developed, tested and launched a digital tool that drives innovation, reforms design thinking and informs better material choices for a better world.

Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF) worked closely with a number of London College of Fashion course directors to instigate a landmark cross college collaboration, bringing students from the schools of design, management and communication. Split into 8 multidisciplinary teams, guided by CSF, the Nike team, London based design mentors, and LCF staff, students beta tested an early version of the app to develop concepts and final design work, which was showcased at Launch 2020 in Portland, Oregon.

Top 3 learnings

1 An understanding of the relationship between data and design
2 The importance of cross-discipline, collaborative and immersive practice in responding to real-world, complex challenges
3 The value of two-way learning processes between industry and education through shared ambitions and knowledge transfer.

What the judges say ...

An innovative project showing real enterprise and providing opportunties for a major company, a university and students to collaborate and produce a significant resource tool as an outcome.

What it means to win ...

“UAL is a place to explore, research, teach and learn practices and processes that contribute to the furthering of societies and cultures. We seek, through the arts, to enable community and individual engagement in practice. Winning this Award recognises our commitment to social and ecological design and amplifies the impacts of our collective ambitions towards a sustainable future.”

Nigel Carrington, Vice-Chancellor

Videos

• Centre for Sustainable Fashion: Nike Making Project (click to hide)