Dr Lauren England will be presenting initial reflections from an ongoing pilot research project on sustainable fashion and textile manufacturing in Kenya and South Africa. The project is a collaboration with Dr Ogake Mosomi (University of Nairobi) and Prof Jen Snowball (Rhodes University). The session will be moderated by Laura Nkula-Wenz. The project aims to develop initial insights into the ‘maker-manufacturing nexus’ in the fashion and textiles industry in Kenya and South Africa – connections between small-scale makers (local creative producers and fashion designers) and large scale (industrial textiles and garment producers) manufacturers. A focus is on exploring the potential for innovations in sustainable manufacturing and identifying enabling and hindering factors to greater collaboration between creative economy actors and local manufacturing infrastructure. The pilot project aims to support the development of a larger research collaboration addressing the needs of creative businesses, industry and policy and supporting sustainable development in the fashion and textile industry. Dr Lauren England is a Lecturer in Creative Economies in the Department of Culture, Media & Creative Industries at King’s College London, UK. Her research focuses on sustainable development in creative economies. Lauren is particularly interested in the application of craft knowledge and skills in manufacturing and sustainable production, evolutionary trajectories and spatial dynamics of craft and design economies, and the organisational strategies of small arts organisations and creative entrepreneurs. Lauren’s work has been funded by the AHRC, British Academy and the Urban Studies Foundation. Her research is communicated through traditional academic publications, public reports and creative outputs including podcasts and short films.