HIDE TO HIGH STREET AND EVERYTHING INBETWEEN
Rachel Garwood, Director of The Institute for Creative Leather Technologies tells us more about the unique relationship the University of Northampton has with the leather industry.
“The Institute for Creative Leather Technologies (ICLT) is a globally-unique research centre based here at the University of Northampton. ICLT engages in cross-disciplinary research that responds to the scientific and technological needs of the leather, automotive, fashion, footwear and allied industries.
“ICLT has traditionally taught the science and technology of leather making, but over recent years we have increasingly attracted students from fashion and design backgrounds as well as science. The close integration of ICLT with the University’s own fashion and design departments allows our courses to cover all aspects of the leather supply chain, from the live animal through to the bespoke end product. This places us in a unique position, since no other university can offer this balance.
Rachel continues: “The ICLT’s reputation, as the world’s leading institution for leather education and academic research, has attracted visits from both Boris Johnson (Mayor of London) and Liam Byrne (Shadow Minister for Business, Innovation and Skills) in the past.
“Such visits are extremely effective in raising the profile of leather as a potential career option. ICLT also has a high level of engagement with industry, which enhances the whole student experience as well as helping produce industry- ready graduates. Significant representatives from the world of industry regularly come to ICLT to deliver guest lectures and student workshops.
“Our annual Leather Industry Engagement Day in February was attended by companies from across the leather supply chain, including Aston Martin, who provided the speaker for the key note lecture. Such events help ICLT maintain its impressive 100 per cent graduate employability record — now for the fifth year running.
Rachel added: “Exciting times lie ahead. A new collaborative partnership between the International Museum of Leathercraft, the Leather Conservation Centre and ICLT has proposed the creation of an International
Centre for Leather, based in Northampton’s cultural quarter. As a global centre of excellence, the International Centre for Leather would provide a unique opportunity for Northamptonshire to demonstrate an ongoing commitment to the leather industry, bringing together not only education, research, development and innovation, but also conservation and heritage, alongside creative fashion and design.
The proposed Centre will become the world’s ‘one stop shop’ and make Northamptonshire the most important global source for leather and leather-related information. This project is a bold vision of linking academia with industry, the environment, fashion and cultural heritage: there will be nothing like this anywhere else in the world.”
To find out more about leather at the University, head to
www.northampton.ac.uk/ICLT
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