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News from Dr Caroline Hemingray (1995-2005)
My education and career since school have
been completely different to how I had
imagined they would be at the age of 18. I
first went to the University of Leeds in 2005
to study French. However, when I found that
the course wasn’t right for me I took a leap
of faith and enrolled on a BA (Hons) degree
in Textile Design. I’m so pleased I did! I
absolutely loved my degree, as it challenged
me both creatively and academically. As a
final year student my final design collection
consisted of printed wallpapers, light shades
and 3D wall coverings. For my dissertation I
took the opportunity to interview designers
such as Ella Doran and Paul Simmons
(of Timorous Beasties) for original input
into my research. The course was hard
work but I loved it and in 2010 I graduated
with a first class honours degree and to
my delight I was also awarded the final
year Textile Design Prize and School of
Design Prize.
Whilst many of my classmates graduated
and went on to work as designers and
buyers within the fashion and textile
industry, I felt like I still had more to do at
University. I managed to find sponsorship
from the Clothworkers’ Foundation and
industrial fibre producer Lenzing to fund a
research PhD. I soon developed from a
textile designer to textile designer and
technologist. My areas of research included
textile
manufacturing,
dyeing
and
sustainability, colour physics and neural
networks. The aim of my research was to
develop a novel method of colouring textiles
for fashion that was more environmentally
sustainable than traditional textile dyeing
techniques. After a lot of hard but truly
rewarding and interesting work, I submitted
my thesis “Colour prediction for sustainable
fibre blending” in September 2014 and
graduated in July 2015. I still have to pinch
myself that I am now Dr Hemingray!
Throughout my PhD I was very fortunate to
remain involved in design at Leeds. I taught
BA Textile Design and BA Fashion
Marketing modules as well as modules on
the International Foundation course in Art
and Design. I thoroughly enjoy my teaching
and in March 2015 I became an Associate
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. In
the final year of my PhD I also worked as a
Research Assistant in the area of textile
physics and testing. Now that I have
completely finished my PhD I am working as
a Postdoctoral Research Fellow on a project
with the University and with Unilever, which
is going really well. I probably won’t be
doing any more degrees for the time being;
I think I have spent enough time as a
student! However I do intend to continue
researching and teaching in Higher
Education. I am also getting stuck back into
my own design practice which is very
exciting. Watch this space!
Dr Caroline Hemingray
