The Division of Textiles and Apparel’s research program sponsors the work of textile conservationists, apparel designers, fiber scientists, and retail merchandisers as they explore the both the functional and the aesthetic potential of natural and man-made fibers.

Our Textiles and Apparel faculty address all the points on the continuum from agricultural byproduct to fiber to manufactured article, from cotton boll to commodity to functional end product, from designer’s inspiration to cultural phenomenon to artifact, from raw material to manufacturing center to the retail environment. Along the same continuum, we pay particular attention to the intersections of environment, sustainability, and optimization.

Our research is microscopic and systemic; it is personal and cultural; it is science based, human focused.