Anne Toomey
- Associate Dean, School of Communication & Design
- Reader in Smart Textiles
- Textiles MA
Anne is a design and materials specialist with a background in Fashion and Textiles. Her research concerns new materials and technologies, textiles and craft.
She is a senior academic with extensive experience in interdisciplinary research, design and higher education.
Anne has over 25 years' experience building successful collaborations across academia, industry, art, design, engineering and science.
She was a recipient of the RCA Best Innovation Knowledge Exchange Award (2022) for outstanding interdisciplinary collaboration and impact.
As the former Head of Programme for Textiles, Anne led the creation of the 45-week MA Textiles and established the Soft Systems research group, advancing materials innovation at the RCA.
Key details
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Research projects
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Research interests
Anne’s research is concerned with investigating how emerging materials and technologies can be employed by designers to propose products and services that improve peoples’ lives.
This involves developing active, adaptive, interactive and responsive textile-based ‘soft’ surfaces and systems.
Her current research project, Neo-Couture, is funded by InnoHKCreative Clusters and explores the relationship between craftsmanship and AI through the development of a multi-modal system for haute couture embroidery. The system aims to advance AI capabilities in digitised craftsmanship, particularly in haute couture embroidery, moving beyond AI’s expedience, to foster new ways of stabilising the skills needed for the high-end luxury market. The project bridges traditional craftsmanship with digital technology, capturing and preserving rare and vanishing skills in a manner that facilitates both the archiving and the passing on of rare and specialist skills and knowledge in fashion and textiles for tomorrow’s couture practitioners.
Research funding
(2025) InnoHK Creative Clusters, HKSAR - £487,771 Neo-Couture phase 2 (ANTLER I): Toomey, A., Broach, Z., and Zou, A.
(2025) AHRC Impact Funding £11,00
(2021) AHRC/Newton Fund ‘Crafting Technology for Textiles’ - £44,902
(2021) Industry funding, ‘Graphene Techwear’ - £44,737
(2020) AHRC Future Fashion Factory, ‘MyVivo’ Vivobarefoot/RCA - £87,997
(2020) InnoHK Creative Clusters, HKSAR - £334, 257 Neo-Couture: Toomey, A., Broach, Z., and Tan, J.
(2020) HKSAR Quality Education funded project – D-STEM with interdisciplinary practice with Artificial Intelligence and Design. Tan, J. and Toomey, A. HKD £149K
Current and recent projects
AiDLab (2020 – current)
Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence in design.
AiDLab is a research initiative that was established in 2020 between the Royal College of Art and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, funded by InnoHK Research Clusters, HKSAR Government.
Based on many years of strategic partnership between the two institutions, the Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence in Design, or as we call it AiDLab, established a new creative cluster for AI in design. We are now in the second phase of funding. There are 3 RCA projects running in this current phase.
External collaborations
MaDE: Materials and Design Exchange
Materials and Design Exchange (MaDE) challenges material scientists to consider applications and provides designers with material and making options, thus turning ideas and technologies into products the market wants. MaDE is led by a partnership of leading academic and industry institutions, including the Institution of Engineering Designers, Institute of Materials Minerals & Mining, Innovate UK, Royal College of Art and University College London, Henry Royce Institute. MaDE supports UK innovators with a wide range of knowledge-sharing events, research and networking, all at the interface of materials and design.
