Skip navigation

Sarah Walton

Assistant Professor

Department: Northumbria School of Design, Arts and Creative Industries

Sarah Walton

  • Sarah Walton is a design and maker. She worked in the fashion industry as a designer and product developer for independent brands and high street suppliers of denim and woven garments, – producing technical specification drawing, pattern cutting, print and fashion graphics.

    Since 2012 Sarah has been lecturing in Higher Education, specialising in Fashion Design and Enterprise. Sarah joined Northumbria in 2017 and is currently Programme Leader for BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Marketing. With industry experience, Sarah’s research focuses on Practice-led studies. Sarah is interested in designers understanding of their craft practice and how this informs the trajectory of combined manual and digital processes and tools in the future of fashion design and manufacturing.

  • Cutters Context; a Practice Led Combined Approach to Manual and Digital Pattern Cutting Principles to Inform New Design Tools and Processes

    Timeframe: 2018-2023

    In the context of fashion; if the puzzle is a design and the solution is a garment, there is often more than one person trying to solve it. Whether approaching the puzzle as a team or individually the journey to the solution will vary and more than likely include conflict over what is deemed ‘best practice.’

    A series of studies will focus on understanding peoples narrative accounts of practice within the field of pattern cutting for fashion design. A devised methodology informed by pragmatism and phenomenological analysis (Smith and Osborn, 2009) will focus on understanding individual practitioner experience. By using idiographic methods informed by pragmatic epistemology (Murphy, 2017) the data focus’ on the designer and their process and not their designs.

    This data analysis is the foundation for design practice and creative exploration into a combined approach to manual and digital pattern cutting principles. To inform the design of new pattern cutting design tools and processes.

Research interests

Sarah Walton is a design and maker. She worked in the fashion industry as a designer and product developer for independent brands and high street suppliers of denim and woven garments, – producing technical specification drawing, pattern cutting, print and fashion graphics.

Since 2012 Sarah has been lecturing in Higher Education, specialising in Fashion Design and Enterprise. Sarah joined Northumbria in 2017 and is currently Programme Leader for BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Marketing. With industry experience, Sarah’s research focuses on Practice-led studies. Sarah is interested in designers understanding of their craft practice and how this informs the trajectory of combined manual and digital processes and tools in the future of fashion design and manufacturing.

 

  • Education PGCE June 23 2015
  • Fashion Design BA (Hons) June 30 2010
  • HEA Fellowship HEA Fellow 2017


a sign in front of a crowd
+

Northumbria Open Days

Open Days are a great way for you to get a feel of the University, the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the course(s) you are interested in.

Research at Northumbria
+

Research at Northumbria

Research is the life blood of a University and at Northumbria University we pride ourselves on research that makes a difference; research that has application and affects people's lives.

NU World
+

Explore NU World

Find out what life here is all about. From studying to socialising, term time to downtime, we’ve got it covered.


Latest News and Features

Universities re-affirm strategic partnership for city
Hasan Hamid and Graham Baty outside of Burger Drop on Westgate road.
Spend to Save Britain
Volcano
Jing Jiang and Eamon Scullion, pictured holding cube sats
Remembering Professor Keith Shaw
More news

Back to top