Rachel Homewood

My career in higher education started in 2006 at Southampton Solent University where I taught across the fashion pathways in Design, Promotion and Photography within the Fashion Degree programme. By 2010 I became a full-time Lecturer on the BA Hons Fashion and Textile Degree course at University of Portsmouth. Prior to academia, I was a Senior Fashion Designer, this role equipped me with invaluable leadership skills as I oversaw a team of designers and student interns.

Transitioning from industry to education was a deliberate choice driven by my passion for mentoring young talent. Drawing from my extensive industry experience working across a range of product areas with High Street brands I integrated my knowledge into my teaching methodology's. My curriculum development focused on alignment of student learning outcomes with industry requisites, particularly emphasising computer aided design proficiency to enhance employability for or graduates.

During my career I have developed my role within the BA Hons Fashion and Textile Design programme including module coordination, year coordination, personal tutoring, and placement coordination. Additionally, I have led on major activities such as organising graduate shows in London and Portsmouth.  I became acting Course Leader which gave me the opportunity to focus on curriculum development aligned with institutional strategies and industry requirements.

I became permanent Course Leader from 2017 to 2023 and Academic Lead in Design for the School of Art, Design and Performance. My responsibilities expanded to manage course delivery, overseeing international partnerships, and ensuring quality assurance processes, this entailed chairing boards, maintaining documentation, and engaging in student recruitment activities while providing leadership and support to staff through performance management systems.

Through diligent line management, workload planning, and strategic foresight, I've continually strived to enhance the effectiveness and future planning of the Fashion programme. Active participation in various educational forums, UCAS fairs and feeder college networking events, has enriched my commitment to academic excellence and student success.

My practice-based research explores the application of digital technology in fashion and textile design, drawing from both my industry experience and teaching expertise. Through practice-based research, I explore how emerging digital tools enhance the creative process and presentation methods for students work. Utilising Google Tilt Brush in virtual reality, I integrated this software into my teaching, enabling direct sculpting onto avatars and exploration of 3D textiles. This not only encourages students' creativity but also deepens their understanding of digital potentials in our subject area.

Since 2018, I've worked on cross-faculty collaborations, crafting immersive fashion films that highlight graduate collections. Utilising and exploring the potential of how we can use various software, including virtual reality via Unreal Engine, CGI animation using Cinema 4D, photogrammetry, 360 volumetric film, and smart stage technology, these films push creative boundaries and how fashion films can be generated using digital technology. My collaborative work has gained recognition at prestigious events like Graduate Fashion Week.

Continuing my exploration of virtual reality and researching into augmented reality to establish a digital repository of students' work. My aim is to produce diverse content, utilising photogrammetry, film, documenting how students have developed their work. Providing detailed insights into their methodology, documenting both the creative evolution and completion of the student projects. This ongoing archive will serve as a valuable resource, aiding in teaching and inspiring new students which could inform their own practice. I plan to test the functionality of this archive across multiple platforms for wider accessibility. Building on this foundation, I aim to collaborate with local museums to digitise their textile and fashion collections, creating additional educational resources.