Dr Sonja Andrew

Profile

I’m an Associate Professor in the School of Design. I have experienced supervisor status for PhDs at the University of Leeds, and UK and international experience as a PhD examiner. My main areas of teaching and research focus on textiles, fashion, and visual/material culture. I have a range of experience in UG/MA programme leadership and programme validations.

Responsibilities

• Deputy Director of Postgraduate Research Studies, School of Design

Research interests

Crossing the disciplines of design, semiotics and narratology, I employ the creative process as a mode of research inquiry. My main research focuses on textile semantics, communication and cultural memory, exploring multi-modality through visual and tactile communication on cloth, the influence of context on audience/user perception, and the cultural significance of textiles to audiences. This aligns with my recent work exploring participatory arts practice and theory in schools and public engagement contexts.

My textile work was selected for one of the first AHRC Image Gallery Awards as an exemplar of practice-based research in the UK, with publication in their book ’Beyond the Trenches, Researching the First World War’. Peer reviewed selection of my work for a range of international exhibitions includes an excellence award at the Lausanne to Beijing International Textile Biennial. In addition to my academic work, I arranged annual events for knowledge transfer and biennial research symposia as conference director for the Textile Society during my tenure on their Board of Trustees. Earlier in my career I delivered creative workshops on memory and perception for design teams at adidas and secured Arts Council funding to develop and lead a regional textile networking organisation in the southwest of England. In my current role I represent the School of Design on the DARE working group which provides guidance on the strategic direction of the partnership between the University of Leeds and Opera North.

I review academic papers and primarily publish in the fields of textiles and fashion, most recently ‘The Decoded Lab’ book chapter in ‘Reading the Thread, Cloth and Communication’ (2025). I’m a Network Expert in the NERC/AHRC/Innovate UK funded ‘Back to Baselines in Circular Fashion and Textiles’ research project. My work on hybrid materials, exploring sustainability parallels between textiles and paper, is pending publication in Bloomsbury’s World Encyclopaedia of Textiles, Volume 10: Textile Futures. I collaborate on funded projects with Professor Fiona Gill (School of Earth and Environment) and a range of external partners. This currently focuses on communicating the connections between earth science, textile production and post-consumer textiles to external audiences.

Qualifications

• PhD, Central Saint Martins
• MA, Central Saint Martins
• BA (Hons) Multi-Disciplinary Design
• FHEA

Professional memberships

• DARE Working Group (June 2023 onwards)
• Board of Trustees of the Textile Society (2013-2017)
• Conference Director for the Textile Society (2013-2017)
• Fellow of The Higher Education Academy

Student education

I teach a variety of subjects across textiles, fashion and visual/material studies. I deliver teaching to first and final year undergraduates and supervise MA and PhD students.

Current postgraduate researchers

• Eddie Bowes