A Mexican fashion designer who came to the UK to explore textile sustainability and now supports global efforts to reduce emissions, says the University of Leeds helped her achieve her dream.
Alma Palacios Marin, 37, was a fashion designer in her home town of Aguascalientes, who used traditional handmade Mexican techniques to create clothing and focused on social sustainability by supporting vulnerable women craft makers. Despite her best efforts, Alma still questioned whether her work was environmentally sustainable.
She explained: “I wanted to be more responsible about what I was creating. I had to take a step back because I wasn’t sure I could call myself a sustainable brand without fully understanding the textiles I was working with.”
Alma researched courses around the world and chose a Textile Sustainability and Innovation MSc at the School of Design, University of Leeds, thanks to its reputation and long-standing connections with textile manufacturing and innovation in West Yorkshire and across the globe.
She loved her year at Leeds so much that she stayed on to complete a PhD, researching how textile laundering generates fragmented fibres and microplastics, and how material composition and fabric structure impacts this source of pollution.
After finishing her studies in September, Alma has now taken a job as a Senior Sustainability Reporting Coordinator at Apparel Impact Institute, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) working with global brands to help them reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Alma said: “It’s really rewarding, and I'm really happy – but I definitely couldn't have achieved this without my studies in Leeds.
“I feel so fortunate to have moved to Leeds. I work remotely and people ask me, why don’t you move to London? For me - no way, I would never leave Leeds. I feel so happy here. I think it's the perfect place and I feel very at home.
“After my Masters, I had the opportunity to either go to Valencia for my PhD or stay in Leeds. Valencia was very tempting because of the sunshine! But I decided to stay in Leeds, and now I can’t see myself living anywhere else.”
Industry collaboration
Alma says that the facilities at Leeds, along with the support she received from her supervisor, and the School of Design, have set her experience apart.
During her four years at Leeds, she was able to work on significant projects including an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funded project. This work involved collaboration with academic and industry partners including GAP Inc to investigate fragmented fibres and inform the engineering of innovative textile structures to stop microplastic pollution.
Alma valued this collaboration with industry, and seeing research put into action by manufacturers.
“It's important to consider all the challenges this industry presents, and it's incredible valuable to work hand in hand with the companies that are actually doing the manufacturing.” she added.
It is wonderful to see Alma now contributing her expertise within a major global organisation working to decarbonise the textile manufacturing industry.
Alma thinks that one day she may return to designing clothes, incorporating her knowledge of sustainable textiles.
She added: “It would be amazing to move my brand to Leeds. My work involved a lot of knitting, and with the textile history in West Yorkshire, it would be really special to have that collaboration.”
The University of Leeds was recently awarded the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Higher and Further Education, one of the UK’s most prestigious educational honours, for its 150 years of textile research.
Professor Muhammad Tausif, Head of School of Design and Professor of Sustainable Textile Manufacturing, who was Alma’s supervisor for six years, said: “Alma has been an inspiring and dedicated student who consistently approached every challenge with determination. Alongside her research at the School of Design, she contributed to a range of industrial projects and completed a research secondment at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.
“I am extremely proud of her achievements and warmly congratulate her on her outstanding academic success. It is wonderful to see her now contributing her expertise within a major global organisation working to decarbonise the textile manufacturing industry.”
Further information
For more information, please contact Becky Pascoe in the University of Leeds press office at r.pascoe@leeds.ac.uk