Senior Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan University.

Clare is a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, and passionate about transforming textile education through digital innovation, emerging technologies, and industry-connected learning experiences that prepare students for the future of creative practice.

Specialising in digital and virtual textiles technologies, and creative software tools, Clare explores the exciting intersection between traditional textile disciplines and new digital possibilities - helping students understand how technology is reshaping the ways we design, create, communicate, and experience textiles.

As an Adobe Global Higher Education Faculty Leader and Adobe ACE Leader for Europe, Clare champions the role of digital creativity, emerging technologies, and responsible innovation within creative education. She product tests new tools and AI features, and contributes to shaping the global direction of Adobe’s Higher Education offering, ensuring future creatives have access to the skills and technologies transforming the industry.

Through research, consultancy work, and collaboration with industry partners, Clare connects textiles education with the wider creative landscape, exploring how technology can support more sustainable, innovative, and inclusive approaches to design. Her recent work includes contributing “AI – The Connected Fibre” to the Crown Paints Colour Insights Report 2027/28, exploring the future of colour, design, and the built environment.

Clare’s mission is to cultivate inclusive, digitally confident individuals equipped with the creative, technological, and critical thinking skills required to thrive in a rapidly evolving world.