S3 Ep 3. The Great British Sewing Bee: Super stitch science

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This week we are donning our best garms to discuss the science of clothes and the perils of fast fashion, all through the lens of the charming show that is The Great British Sewing Bee!

We’re bursting at the seams to talk to you about all the latest inventions designed to help reduce the impact of fashion on the environment. We take a look at fast fashion, recyclable shoes and how polyester affects sperm production (no really!)

We also talk to an expert in the use of Artificial Intelligence in fashion design. Are you thready to go?

Listen to the podcast now on:

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Meet our guest

Stefan Leijnen

Stefan Leijnen is Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Applied Sciences in Utrecht, Netherlands. He leads the Artificial Intelligence research group, and is founder of the Asimov Institute for Artificial Creativity & Constraint. Stefan has spoken at conferences about the use of AI in fashion…who better to talk to about the possible use of Artificial Intelligence in the fashion industry?

w: https://www.internationalhu.com/research/artificial-intelligence

Bridgerton blogs

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Episode References (if you fancy some extra reading)

Beall, A. (2020) Why clothes are so hard to recycle. BBC [online] Available from: Why clothes are so hard to recycle - BBC Future
Carman, A. (2020) Amazon will no longer support the Echo Look, encourages owners to recycle theirs. The Verge [online] Available from: Amazon will no longer support the Echo Look, encourages owners to recycle theirs - The Verge
DevicePlus (2018) SewBot is revolutionising the clothing manufacturing industry. DevicePlus [online] Available from: SewBot - Revolutionizing the Clothing Manufacturing Industry (deviceplus.com)
Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2017) A new textile economy: Redesigning fashion’s future. Available from: A-New-Textiles-Economy_Full-Report_Updated_1-12-17.pdf (ellenmacarthurfoundation.org)
Haines, C., Lima, M., Li, N., Spinks, G., Foroughi, J., Madden, J., Kim, S., Fang, S. et al. (2014). Artificial muscles from fishing line and sewing thread. Science, 343(6173), pp. 868-872.
H&M Foundation (2020) Global Change Award. H&M Foundation [online] Available from: GCA-Trend-Report-2020.pdf (globalchangeaward.com)
H&M Foundation (2020) Winners. H&M Foundation. Available from: Global Change Award
Klein, A. (2018) Your old, unwanted clothes can be turned into building materials. New Scientist [online] Available from: Your old, unwanted clothes can be turned into building materials | New Scientist
Liang, Y., Lee, S. and Workman, J. (2020) Implementation of Artificial Intelligence in fashion: Are consumers ready? Clothing and Textile Research Journal, 38(1), pp. 3-18
Linlin, L., Zhang, H., Ji, Y. and Wu, Q. (2019) Toward AI fashion design: An attribute-GAN model for clothing match. Neurocomputing 341, pp. 156-167
Midha, V., Kothari, V., Chatopadhyay, R. and Mukhopadhyay, A. (2008) The effect of high-speed sewing on the tensile strengths of sewing threads at different stages of sewing. International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, 21(4), pp. 217-238
Pena-Francesch, A. and Demirel, M. (2019) Squid-inspired tandem repeat proteins: Functional fibres and films. Frontiers in Chemistry. 7, p. 69-84
Shafik, A. (1992) Contraceptive efficacy of polyester-induced azoospermia in normal men. Contraception. 45(5), pp. 439-451
Shafik, A. (1993) The effect of different types of textiles on sexual activity. Experimental study. European Urology. 24(3), pp. 375-380
YouGov (2019) Do you know how to sew? YouGov [online] Available from: Daily Question | 20/02/2019 | YouGov
YouGov (2020) Who does not buy fast fashion? YouGov [online] Available from: Who does not buy fast fashion? | YouGov
YouGov (2020) Quarter of Brits would never buy second hand clothes or accessories. YouGov [online] Available from: Quarter of Brits would never buy secondhand clothes or accessories | YouGov
Wilkes, w. (2018) How the world’s biggest companies are fine-tuning the robot revolution. The Wall Street Journal, 5, p.14