Chetna Prajapati

Chetna Prajapati is a Lecturer in Textiles within the Creative Arts at Loughborough, where she has a broad remit spanning research, enterprise and lecturing on the BA (Hons) Textiles: Innovation and Design programme, in addition to supervising postgraduate research.

Prior to joining Loughborough University in 2018, Chetna held lecturer positions at Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London, where she taught on the BA (Hons) Textile Design, MA Textile Design and Short Course Programmes. Her industry experience is varied and ranges from creative to technical roles across the fashion and textiles sector. Chetna initially trained as a designer and holds a BA (Hons) in Textile Design from Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London, and a MA in Printed Textiles from the Royal College of Art.

In 2017, Chetna was awarded a PhD in Biotechnology for Textile Design from the School of Design, De Montfort University. First of its kind, her thesis explored the application of enzymes as innovative biotechnology-based textile design tools to support sustainable production within the area of textile design and manufacture. Her PhD formed part of a larger collaborative research project titled LEBIOTEX (AH/J002666/1) between De Montfort University, Loughborough University and industrial partners, which was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK.

Chetna continues to take a transdisciplinary approach to her research in order to explore the intersections between craft, design, science and technology disciplines with industry stakeholders to bring innovation to the area of textile design and production. Biotechnology is an area that has captured her imagination recently, as it offers exciting new possibilities, to either create entirely novel processes or adapt and revise current textile processes to offer novel aesthetics in addition to potential economic, environmental and social benefits. Her research has been published by leading journals, such as the Journal of Cleaner Production and Coloration Technology, in addition to being presented at national and international conferences and exhibitions.