José Teunissen

José Teunissen was one of the first professors of design to do research into the importance of theory for fashion design. Over the years, her research at the professorship in Fashion Design at ArtEZ evolved from an academic approach providing the foundation for fashion design to a type of design-based research. Teunissen had a hand in the wider acceptance of Research Through Design by the designing disciplines such as fashion, design and architecture. In 2015, she initiated the Centre of Expertise Future Makers at ArtEZ for design-based research into fashion, textiles and interior. In this centre, designers collaborate with businesses, educational institutions and research institutes on research into socially relevant issues. Partly due to the top sector policy for the creative industry, it seems that the Netherlands now takes a leading position in extensive, interdisciplinary design research. Drawing on her many years of experience in research at ArtEZ and in her new role as Dean of the School of Design and Technology at the London College of Fashion (University of the Arts London), Teunissen will comment on the emancipation of design research and its current importance.

Since 1 Januari 2016, José Teunissen has been Dean of the School of Design and Technology of the London College of Fashion. She is also a professor in Fashion Theory at the University of Arts in London. Between 2002 and 2016, Teunissen was one of the first professors in the Netherlands to work at ArtEZ as a professor of Fashion Design. Drawing on topical themes in fashion, she developed various research projects, publications and exhibitions, earning herself an international reputation.