Elaine Evans
Teaching Fellow in Fashion Design
School of Design
University of Leeds
After graduating from the University of Leeds, Elaine worked as a garment technician in two roles, including made-to-measure, before joining the School of Design in 2001, and is now a Teaching Fellow in Fashion Design. Her teaching specialism is garment technology, construction and pattern cutting.
Alongside her teaching role Elaine manages the Yorkshire Fashion Archive which is a publically accessible resource housed in the School of Design and comprises a collection of 20th Century clothing, accessories and fashion publications. The Yorkshire Fashion Archive explores the interactions between clothing and the social and cultural history of Yorkshire in the 20th Century through the clothing, photographs and oral histories of its donors to reflect changing social attitudes and influences, economic prosperity, global trends and the regional technical excellence in textiles and clothing during this period.
Abstract
Synthetic fibres and the everyday wardrobe
A collaboration between the Yorkshire Fashion Archive, the Enterprise of Culture project and ULITA - An Archive of International Textiles at the University of Leeds has culminated in an exhibition charting the rise of the synthetic fibre in everyday clothing in Yorkshire in the twentieth century. The exhibition explores the impact of the introduction of man-made fibres on the local woollen industry and the promotion of new ‘wonder fibres’ during a period of steadily increasing mass consumption.