معرفی
Dr. Jenny Underwood serves as the Associate Dean, Research and Innovation in the School of Fashion and Textiles at RMIT University, Australia, based at the Brunswick campus. Her academic work bridges fashion, textiles, and architecture with a strong emphasis on sustainable and responsible design innovation. With an ORCID identifier of 0000-0002-4519-3745, she is internationally recognized as a leading expert in advanced knit design and 3D seamless knitting technology.
Dr. Underwood's research is fundamentally interdisciplinary and practice-based, focusing on developing material-led design strategies and systems-based approaches for responsible innovation. Her work spans sustainable fashion practices, digital fashion technologies, textile design, and education for sustainability. She has pioneered methodologies like 'soft simultaneity' for interdisciplinary collaboration between architecture and textile design, enabling diverse knowledge sets to work together on complex design challenges. Her research interests prominently feature sustainability integration across the fashion value chain.
Analysis of Dr. Underwood's publication record reveals a clear trajectory toward systemic approaches to sustainable fashion, with increasing focus on circular economy principles, regenerative manufacturing, and the integration of Sustainable Development Goals into fashion education. Her work consistently bridges theoretical frameworks with practical applications, moving from material-specific innovations toward holistic systems thinking that addresses the entire fashion lifecycle. The interdisciplinary nature of her research is evident in projects spanning from smart textiles to urban textile metabolism.
As an experienced senior supervisor, Dr. Underwood has guided some of the first practice-based research PhDs in fashion and textile design internationally. She co-leads the Floppy Lab, a collaborative research initiative situated between RMIT's Brunswick and City campuses that bridges architecture, fashion, and textile design. Her supervision portfolio includes projects on values-led design practice, fashion futuring, and innovative textile technologies for enhanced performance and sustainability.
Dr. Underwood co-leads the Floppy Lab with Dr. Leanne Zilka, which serves as a nexus for cross-disciplinary research exploring innovative applications of textile technologies. She is also affiliated with the Centre for Materials Innovation and Future Fashion (CMIFF) and the Design & Creative Practice Early Innovation Program (EIP) at RMIT University. Her lab work focuses on developing material-led design strategies that address sustainability challenges through interdisciplinary collaboration, particularly exploring the intersections between architecture, fashion, and textile design to create innovative solutions for responsible design innovation.
