Professor Becky Earley

Biography

Professor Rebecca Earley is a sustainable fashion textile designer and expert in circular economy, based at Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London. Her work focuses on developing design strategies for sustainable and circular textiles, encompassing innovative material development, low-impact production processes, creative practice methods, and fostering behaviour change in both designers and users. From 2010 to 2017, she served as the Director of the Textile Futures Research Centre at Central Saint Martins (CSM) and also led projects within the Textiles Environment Design research group at Chelsea (1996–2017). In 2017, she co-founded and directed the Centre for Circular Design (CCD) at Chelsea with Kate Goldsworthy, a role she held until 2022.

After earning her MA in Fashion from CSM in 1994, Becky received several accolades for her innovative print design work, including a New Generation Award at London Fashion Week in 1996. She received funding from the Crafts Council and Arts Council England, and the Prince’s Youth Business Trust.

She began teaching textiles at Chelsea College of Arts in 1996. Her early research, initiated in 1999, focused on design strategies for textiles using recycling and low-impact printing and dyeing techniques. She worked in collaboration with the Eden Project and scientists from Bristol and Exeter Universities with natural indigo (Spindigo Project). Her work was further supported through AHRB awards - 5Ways, Worn Again, and Fire Up. In 2007, she was nominated as a Morgan Stanley Great Briton for her contributions to sustainable fashion textiles, following the curation of the Crafts Council’s 2006 Well Fashioned exhibition. Becky has curated multiple fashion textile exhibitions across London, New York, and Sweden, with her recycled textile works showcased globally. Her pieces are included in major museum collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.