Elastomers in Sustainable Fashion

María José Munguía-Romero

PhD Student, Soft Matter Group, School of Engineering and Material Science, Queen Mary University of London

Maria Jose is a PhD Student working at Queen Mary University of London as part of the Soft Matter Group. She holds a degree in Textile Engineering and has been working for the industry for the past 5 years. Her research focuses on the challenges of sustainability in the footwear industry.

She gained experience across the sector working as a Junior Project Manager and Junior Consultant for the fashion industry. She has collaborated with SMEs to develop strategies for sustainability.

Recently, she worked in collaboration with London College of Fashion on the creation of a report that highlights the environmental impact of the trainers’ industry. 

Prof Veronika Kapsali

Professor of Materials Technology and Design, London College of Fashion at UAL (University of the Arts London)

Veronika is a Professor of Materials Technology and Design at the London College of Fashion at UAL (University of the Arts London) and a leader in the newly emerging field of Bio-inspired Textiles. She has worked for 15+ years on a range of industry-focused applications that include the invention and development of biomimetic active fibres and textiles.

Within her role at UAL, Veronika established the Active Material Systems Research Group and has attracted over £1 million in funding (UKRI/AHRC, Innovate UK, H2020, industry).

Veronika co-founded MMT Textiles Limited to commercialise her invention of a smart fibre that responds to changes in environmental moisture by altering its length. In November 2014 she received the ITMA Future Materials award for INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR.

Veronika draws on her academic and industrial research to underpin a range of knowledge exchange activities on the subjects of material, textile and product innovation. This includes writing a series of five educational films on biomimetic design, commissioned by BBC Learning.

Edward TJ Mitchell

Co-Founder & CTO, Arda Biomaterials

Edward, known as TJ, is the co-founder and CTO of Arda Biomaterials, a start-up that transforms waste feedstocks into novel, circular biomaterials. Arda’s first transformation involves turning waste brewery grain into a sustainable animal & plastic-free leather alternative. TJ has a PhD (DPhil) in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Oxford where he worked under the supervision of Prof. Paul Beer to develop supramolecular & halogen bonding sensors for the detection of anions. In addition, TJ holds a master’s degree in Chemistry (MChem) from Durham University.

Kresse Wesling CBE

Co-Founder, Elvis & Kresse

Kresse Wesling, CBE, is a multi-award winning environmental entrepreneur. After first meeting the London Fire Brigade in 2005, Kresse launched Elvis & Kresse, which rescues and transforms decommissioned fire hose into innovative lifestyle products and returns 50% of profits to the Fire Fighters Charity.The company now collects 12 different waste streams and has several charitable partnerships and collaborations across industries. In 2021 Elvis & Kresse also took on a farm in order to establish a regenerative agriculture project, generate their own renewables and implement a host of environmental initiatives.