Sustainable fashion innovator, Patrick Grant, will be presenting from the main stage at Sustainability ROX Design Live in March.
The sustainable design community is gathering for a standout one-day design and manufacturing leadership and innovation summit created by Sustainability ROX.
Hosted by De Monfort University Leicester, Sustainable Design is bringing together a unique mix of thought leaders and creators from across the design and manufacturing industry in a very special experience on 5th March 2024.
Patrick’s session “Sustainability for All: Building a Greener Future With Maximum Benefits” will explore the present day and future opportunities of garment manufacturing and materials using sustainable processes. The founder of Community Clothing, judge on The Great British Sewing Bee and director of Norton & Sons, said “our mission is simple, and collectively it should be. Manufacturing clothing that supports sustaining the planet and boost local economies with jobs and trade is one way the fashion industry can help restore and renew both planet and prosperity. At Sustainability ROX, I’ll be discussing the pattern and fabric of sustainable design which forms growth and does good.”
The sustainable design summit is in partnership with De Montfort University, a leading university in the top 50 of universities in the world for sustainability. De Montfort University is proud of its status as a Global Hub for the United Nations Sustainable Development goals. In this year’s People and Planet 2023/24 rankings DMU has been placed 7th out of 151 institutions and has been classified as a “first class university” for the twelfth consecutive year.
Sustainable Design and Manufacturing are core focuses at De Montfort University including the new Fashion and Textiles Business Hub which showcases the university’s skills in textile testing, sustainable fashion and digital design, and the Design Unit which is the portal for new ideas in design developments using new materials and promoting a circular economy for business.
Associate Professor and Enterprise Lead, Gillian Proctor “Responsible sourcing, adoptions of new technologies and how to produce fibres from materials that do not damage the planet, we want to share our business knowledge.”
Director of the Design Unit and Deputy Dean for Arts, Design and Humanities, Professor Christine White, said: “We are so delighted Patrick can headline the main stage at this vital event. His innovations are really walking the talk and pioneering in the fashion industry. We know our delegates are going to leave his session with purpose and direction ignited.
“All companies are facing huge challenges with net zero emissions targets, supply chains, the need to minimise extraction of raw materials and reducing the amount of materials sent to landfill. This event will discuss future business, greenwashing, new product design, carbon literacy, plus more. We have a wealth of sustainable design industry experience at DMU which we are keen to share and will meet with delegates at the event on 5th March.
We will present ideas, solutions and practical steps to help all types of businesses move forward for green growth.”
About Sustainability ROX www.sustainabilityrox.com.
Sustainability ROX is the UK’s newest B2B strategic live event platform that features leading sustainable global scale brand solution finders and thought leaders. The event will help businesses in the UK reach their green goals by providing them with the knowledge and resources they need to make a positive impact on the environment and the economy.
About De Montfort University
De Montfort University are helping to turn words and targets into affordable technology, while changing the behaviour of people and organisations. In a world of complex social, economic and environmental challenges, the universities cutting-edge research and teaching in sustainability is helping to change the world one step at a time.
Contact
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louise@hollandalexander.com Managing Director at Holland Alexander
Patrick Grant Bio
Patrick Grant has a lot to say about clothes; how many we buy, how we value them, what they’re made from, and importantly who made them and where. His campaigning clothes brand Community Clothing supports local clothing and textile manufacturers across the UK and Patrick is an outspoken advocate for radical change in the fashion and clothing industry, for moving beyond sustainable to circular and regenerative.
Patrick’s career in fashion has spanned almost two decades. In that time he has rebuilt the Savile Row tailor Norton & Sons, relaunched E. Tautz for which he won Menswear Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards, and built the most successful designer collaboration in Debenham’s history with Hammond & Co. He has worked with some of the world’s best known brands including Cartier, Rolls Royce, Lotus, BMW, Mercedes, The Macallan, Chivas Regal, Barbour, Christian Louboutin, and Alexander McQueen.
Then in 2015 Patrick bought the ailing Blackburn clothing manufacturer Cookson & Clegg, saving the factory from closure. This got him thinking about the fate of the many other great UK textile and garment makers, many of which he knew well, and how to secure their future and the future prosperity of the communities that those businesses support. The result of this thinking was Community Clothing which was launched in 2016 and has since earned him widespread praise.
Patrick is a regular on TV and Radio, as a commentator and a documentary maker, but he is best known for his role on the hit BBC series The Great British Sewing Bee, which was nominated for a BAFTA in 2022. Patrick won Celebrity Mastermind and The Weakest Link, but didn’t do as well in Masterchef. He has written on diverse subjects for many titles including The Financial Times, The Times and GQ. He has written one book, Original Man, published in 2014, and is currently writing two more. Patrick has a degree in Materials Science from Leeds and an MBA from Oxford, an honorary Doctorate from Heriot Watt, an honorary Fellowship from UCLan, is an honorary Professor at Glasgow Caledonian, and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 2018 he gave a Ted Talk about the thinking behind Community Clothing. And he is an ambassador for The King’s Foundation, a charity which supports education activities for people of all ages across the UK.
