PhD candidate wins Faculty of Humanities MDC Excellence Award for research impact
We鈥檙e delighted to announce Tetyana Solovey, a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology, has won the 鈥楤est Contribution to Society - Research Impact鈥� award at the Humanities MDC Excellence Award for her work on textile upcycling.
Tetyana鈥檚 research focuses on fashion sustainability, with particular attention to over-consumption, clothing repair and ethical manufacturing. Through her work, she connected with 鈥�, a community organisation led by Jess O鈥橰iley (), James Robinson (), and Connor Thomas-Davidson which aims to bring ethical fashion manufacturing to the UK.
This collaboration led to 鈥楾he Making Room Fair鈥�, an 2025 , designed to equip people with practical repair and upcycling skills. The fair featured making station pop-ups from 91直播 Mending Club, Krass Community Collective and Print Parlour, alongside workshops on alterations and upcycling led by fashion professionals and volunteers leading workshops.
The event was a large success, attracting more than 120 attendees, from students and local residents to sustainability鈥憁inded participants. It introduced members of the community to practical clothing repair skills, encouraged conversation about how we consume clothing and provided an accessible space to explore small but meaningful changes in how we use and value clothes.
Tetyana Solovey said:
Clothing and textiles are something we all engage with daily, and activities such as repair and upcycling workshops can help us rethink our relationships with what we wear. Through The Making Room Fair, I've seen how conversations around clothing, repair and reuse can make sustainability tangible and relevant to everyday life. I cannot stop thanking the team behind The Making Room who made this event happen, and I highly recommend following them if you want to learn making skills from professionals.
Read more about Tetyana鈥檚 award-winning research on the Sustainable Consumption Institute blog: .