Fashion meets Innovation: How a secondment is helping Penny Norman accelerate digital fashion design within the fashion industry

The Innovation Studio team is growing, and with it so does our expertise and enthusiasm to seek out innovative solutions to better the world around us.

We’re fortunate to be joined by Arts University Bournemouth ’s MA Digital Fashion Innovation Course Leader, Penelope Norman , as she undertakes a secondment with us, bringing over 15 years’ worth of industry experience to the (orange) table.

Rob Fanner MBA MEng , Innovation and Business Development Manager, sat down with Penny to discuss her ambitions, passions, and ultimately why this secondment is so important…

Was it an easy decision to step away from MA Digital Fashion Innovation to undertake this secondment?

I’m still connected to, and very much part of the Fashion department and team at AUB. I’m still Course Leader of MA Digital Fashion Innovation (MADFI) and am planning the BA (Hons) Fashion level 5 live project to run adjacently with the work I’m doing during the secondment with Menswear brand ThruDark . I’m hoping that this secondment is going to benefit both the BA and MA Fashion courses for many months to come, and the wider AUB community, especially if we can secure AUB’s first Knowledge Transfer Partnership.

What’s a Knowledge Transfer Partnership?

A Knowledge Transfer Partnership, often just referred to as a KTP, is essentially collaborative partnership between businesses, knowledge bases – that’s universities, colleges, and research organisations – and graduates that ultimately helps businesses innovate for growth. It’s a rather unique model. This UK-wide programme helps businesses improve their competitiveness and productivity through improved used of knowledge, technology and skills that reside within the UK’s knowledge base. It also means we can support graduate projects.

I see, so how does your connection to MA Digital Fashion Innovation work?

I typically spend two days a week working on the MA; the secondment has allowed me one extra day on the MA, both with the students and supporting the wider graduate school, and then three days aligned with the Innovation Studio. Then on Saturdays I usually catch-up on anything I haven’t done for either the studio or the MA and, if I’m lucky, I have a day off on Sunday!

?It sounds like a very different challenge!

It’s a different challenge, but one I wanted! I see it as something that’s needed to implement positive change in the fashion industry and support new strategies for collaboration both within AUB and the industry – I’ve now got a platform to help me do that through the time this secondment has offered me.

So, will the secondment ultimately benefit AUB’s MA Digital Fashion Innovation?

The secondment gives me the opportunity to organically develop the MA course using the resources available in the Innovation Studio, resources that I wouldn’t really have the time to take advantage of if I was still working full-time on the BA and MA. I intend to create a more industry focussed MA syllabus and opportunities. By opportunities, I mean connecting brands with students and developing brand-led briefs. I’ll be bringing industry to our students, giving them more exposure to industry and supporting entrepreneurship opportunities. I’m currently working on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership proposal that’s now passed the first stage of acceptance, which is really exciting. The work with industry goes both ways, as I’m also consulting with a number of brands during the secondment to support them in the transition to digital fashion.

The secondment sounds very beneficial for the MA course! I guess I should probably ask what’s in it for the Innovation Studio? Apart from your excellent company, of course!

(Laughs) Well, I suppose I’m here to support the studio and offer a different dynamic, bring in new expertise to further the projects here. Working in academia can sometimes slow down processes, and by taking a step away from teaching full-time and inserting myself into a more industry-facing role with this secondment, I’m able to speed up the processes of working with industry and build momentum more easily. We’ve had lots of start-ups and big brands reach out to us in recent weeks – including the creators of CLO3D, one of the leading design software in the fashion industry, who’ve asked me to consult with them on the development of their digital avatars. I’m hoping we can develop a model for the wider AUB community to engage with the studio and to look at projects that involve funding and have measurable knowledge exchange impact.

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Walk us through a day in the studio; what can we typically find you doing?

No two days are the same! You might find me devising strategy about how to work with businesses and how we can support them. I’ll also be liaising with businesses and our industry partners to not only keep them engaged, but also manage their expectations and solidify their confidence in us that we can lead the way. I’m ensuring that what AUB’s investing in is multidisciplinary and has longevity whilst at the same time streamlining our processes to better equip us for the future. One of the main threads that run through this work is connecting people and industry through innovation in practice. When you consider that a large percentage of the jobs that Gen Alpha will progress into in the future don’t currently exist, it’s a really exciting time for spaces like the Innovation Studio to support education and industry.

What made you want to second to the Innovation Studio, as opposed to going back into Industry?

Really, one of the remarkable aspects of working in the Innovation Studio is the crossover of expertise and knowledge to make an impact. There are few places where you’d find such a unique skillset – the team here is from such a wide range of industries and professions.

I feel that taking this opportunity will give me a platform to test my research, methodologies, and beliefs that we can improve the sustainability of fashion product.

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Speaking of industry, you’ve had the chance to work with some incredible brands throughout your career. Tell me about those.

There’s been many! From a womenswear and designer perspective I’ve worked with Anna Scholtz, Owen Gastor, Simply Be, JD Williams, Turnbull and Asser, Red Mutha, amongst others. Whilst here at AUB I’ve instigated and been part of live brief projects and knowledge exchange with JD Sports, COS, Vivienne Westwood. It was actually a full circle moment working with Vivienne Westwood and when I approached her to become an AUB Honorary Fellow.

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How so?

I wrote to Vivienne Westwood when I was about 11 years old to ask for a job. I sent her some of my fashion designs. She obviously didn’t write back to me – rude! But having the opportunity to meet with her team and enter the amazing archive at the Westwood Studios years later taught me the virtue of graft and patience and approaching everything with integrity. You wouldn’t necessarily have the experiences you do now without the detours or if you’d have ‘succeeded’ right away.

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You sound like you’ve always been very determined. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a career in the creative industries?

Yes, I’ve always known I wanted to do something creative, and I had to be tenacious. I wanted to go to art college, but at the time that wasn’t considered a sensible choice, so I ‘studied’ my A Levels in the loosest sense of the word and did spectacularly badly. After my A Levels I worked in telesales and then for Peugeot. It wasn’t the most stimulating of times or creative jobs, but it made me all the more determined to do something I was really passionate about, so I applied and studied my Foundation here at AUB. ?

And what made you want to pursue designing womenswear specifically?

When I was studying, it was all about the size 0 and the controversy of sending unhealthy skinny models and 13-year-olds down the catwalk. I think you’d struggle to find a woman that lived through the ‘90s without dieting, because that’s what the fashion industry made you think you needed to do, to meet their idea of beauty. This really struck a nerve with me, and I wanted to challenge that perceived beauty standard. My final degree catwalk show at Graduate Fashion Week was called ‘Shape not Size’ and it was about dressing a woman’s body shape, not the size of it.

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Can you elaborate on what you mean by ‘shape not size’?

How you look in your clothes is of course important, and it’s part of our identity, but it’s more about how you feel wearing them. It’s celebrating every ‘body’ no matter the shape or size and making sure everyone ?feels acknowledged, recognised, and catered to. When I started out, many retailers would only stock the plus sizes online, which is exclusionary and makes people feel unwelcome in their stores. Sadly, some retailers still do this.

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Your work has since evolved to incorporate a strong sustainability theme, can you tell me more about that?

‘Sustainability’ wasn’t the buzz word it is now when I was studying, (probably because we were in the midst of creating the problems we have now), but it’s certainly become more relevant as my career has progressed. It was one of the main drivers that bought me into academia – I love my industry but frankly my industry is destroying the planet and I wanted to work in a space where I could make a difference.? I just see too much stuff, all the time, being produced; overconsumption, so-called ‘fast fashion’ deadstock. It’s become difficult to create unique, special, robust products in the face of mass production – difficult but not impossible and this is something I’m hell bent on educating students and the industry about.

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What do you think the solution is?

I don’t think there’s one specific solution, however 80% of a product’s environmental impact can be addressed at the design stage, and I think that's something really important for the industry (and education) to work on. If we design consciously we can address lots of environmental issues and ultimately make the fashion industry more sustainable.

?Any ideas as to how we can address sustainability at the design stage?

Well, there’s so much material waste due to manual processes when you make prototypes and then must adjust after fitting, whether it’s the fit, fabric selection, embellishments. Not to mention the carbon footprint of repeatedly sending prototype clothing from the manufacturers to the models to try them out. Digital processes can be used to not only cut down on design and development time, but also lessen the waste produced.

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Can you give me an example?

We can scan a person’s body and create a bespoke avatar to their precise measurements. Then through digital design programmes, such as CLO3D, clothing can be designed to perfectly fit the dimensions of the body, therefore reducing materials waste. The entire design can be simulated, so you can digitally experiment with colours, textures and decorative features, and perfect the design before any physical materials are used, again reducing the chance for waste. Not to mention you know it’ll fit the model because it’s been created to their exact measurements, diminishing the need for multiple fittings, and couriering the garments. It’s all about digitising the supply chain and streamlining processes.

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Is there a benefit to exploring this type of technology during your secondment to the studio?

Absolutely. By exploring creative technology, digital design and manufacturing options and feeding it into AUB’s degree curriculum we’re future-proofing our courses. Our graduates will be better prepared than ever before to enter the fashion industry and innovate and drive it forwards. We’re also providing valuable research and tangible case studies for industry to learn from and adapt their processes.

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Finally, what would you summarise as your end goal?

I’d say that my goal is to support designers to have a positive ecological impact through the implementation of digital design and production methods and to educate graduates to support and drive these changes within the industry. I want to be successful in securing AUB’s first Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) and create a model for all departments, not just fashion, to be able to have the same success. I want to demonstrate to brands that they can become more inclusive of body shape and to highlight new ways to create a better standards of fitting and sizing. I also want to support AUB through this exciting time of digital innovation and ensure we’re providing both what the industry require and what Gen Z and Gen Alpha need to be the next generation of confident and innovative creative graduates that’ll continue to make an impact.

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