Research Group: Design Innovations

This research group has recently initiated projects with non-HEI partners and links strongly with the Luxury Group.

Non-HEI collaborations developed by the Design Innovations group include a partnership with the V&A (since 2013), involving co-development of exhibition and conference activities, and the appointment of a Research Fellow to facilitate collaborative ventures (Leanne Rae Wierzba 2013-2015); collaborations with industry, including the global advertising agency Weiden & Kennedy and the W+K Exp Gallery (Delhi, India) that resulted in exhibitions and book publications (e.g., D'Souza's Outside India).

Other important projects include Dr Yuanyuan Yin's ESRC funded research on grocery store design for the elderly in the UK and China which is being conducted in collaboration with Sainsburys, and Linda Newington’s "In the Loop" conferences and publications (with Faiers).

Some PhD students coming on stream from Elisava staff will bring on-going large-scale design projects that can include WSA participation.

Similarly with the Knitting archive and the large collection of Fashion related periodicals on site as well as expert knowledge within the Library at WSA and previous research-led initiatives, there are many opportunities to support staff to develop research that focuses and interrogates these resources.

Professor Jonathan Faiers' new journal Luxury: History, Culture, Consumption (Bloomsbury 2014) and his position on the V&A editorial and curatorial boards provides unique publishing and curatorial platforms for researchers interested in these related areas.