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Experts from Â鶹´«Ã½ will show their pioneering research into sustainable fashion at one of the biggest festivals in the world. 

Professor Katie Normington, Â鶹´«Ã½’s Vice-Chancellor, will lead a series of Â鶹´«Ã½ events at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Texas next week. 

The annual event, held across the city of Austin, incorporates one of the biggest music festivals on the planet, alongside industry leading events on film, TV and technology. 

It hosts a huge number of events led by hundreds of artists, leaders and business professionals and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the world. 

Professor Normington said: “SXSW offers one of the biggest opportunities to really promote what we’re doing here at Â鶹´«Ã½ and connect our research to some of the biggest industry figures there are. 

“The breakthroughs we are developing here at Â鶹´«Ã½ offer real, impactful ways to make technology and industry more sustainable and drive innovation in different fields. 

“It is exciting to be representing the UK in this way.” 

Â鶹´«Ã½ is working with the UK Government’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT), as part of its – a four-day programme of events at SXSW which will bring together innovative thinkers to forge partnerships and shape the future of the creative economy. 

As part of this, Â鶹´«Ã½ is leading two events on Monday 10 March, one on sustainable fashion and another on immersive technology experiences. 

The first, called , will see Professor Normington joined by Professor Claire Lerpiniere, Â鶹´«Ã½’s Associate Professor in Sustainable Textiles, and Professor Andrew Chitty, Professor of Creativity and Innovation at Â鶹´«Ã½. 

The trio will lead an engaging roundtable conversation on how sustainable innovation, creativity, and circular design principles are reshaping the future of fashion and textiles.  

This will include some of the research taking place at Â鶹´«Ã½, including that undertaken by Professor Jinsong Shen, who has developed techniques using laser technology to apply dyes directly to textile fabrics requiring far less energy, water and chemicals than conventional methods. 

He has also pioneered the use of enzymes to dye textiles without using traditional premanufactured dyes as an alternative to conventional dyeing methods saving energy and reducing effluent waste. 

In its second event, called , Professor Normington and Professor Chitty will speak to Â鶹´«Ã½ alumnus Stuart Hetherington, CEO of Holovis, a Leicestershire firm using modern technology to create fully immerse sensory experiences, many of which have been used in theme parks across the world like SeaWorld in Abu Dhabi and the Qatar Olympic Sports Museum. 

The session will explore the role of research in pushing forward immersive technologies and multisensory storytelling, highlighting how creative industries are blending physical and digital worlds to transform engagement in entertainment, culture, and education. There will be reflections on how a collaboration like those between Â鶹´«Ã½ and Holovis can drive innovation, foster new talent, and develop skills. 

The visit to SXSW comes only weeks after Â鶹´«Ã½ was named, by the United Nations, as chair of the global Academic Impact hub for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 – sustainable cities and communities. 

This means it will lead a team of other co-chair universities across the globe in helping to address issues like affordable housing, air pollution, clean water and sanitation, and renewable energy in cities worldwide.