Dr Karen Cross' Outputs (12)

Weaving a community: securing the intangible cultural heritage created by Harris Tweed. (2025)
Book Chapter
STEED, J., CROSS, K. and WILSON, B. 2025. Weaving a community: securing the intangible cultural heritage created by Harris Tweed. In Kosmidou, E.R. and McMurtry, L.G. (eds.) Intangible cultural heritage and new methodological frameworks: media, performance and the public space. Abingdon: Routledge [online], chapter 7, pages 121-137. Available from: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003415329-11

Scotland’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) is diverse with many situated in rural and remote northerly peripheries, today still retaining human idiosyncrasies free from the uniformity created by mass-globalization. They include textile craft pract... Read More about Weaving a community: securing the intangible cultural heritage created by Harris Tweed..

Provenance and production in Scotland's fashion sector: shifting stories. (2024)
Book Chapter
CROSS, K., STEED, J. and JIANG, Y. 2024. Provenance and production in Scotland's fashion sector: shifting stories. In Schramme, A. and Verboven, N. (eds.) Sustainability and the fashion industry: can fashion save the world? Abingdon: Routledge [online], chapter 4, pages 56-69. Available from: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032659053-4

As part of Augmented Fashion, an interdisciplinary research project involving fashion, textiles and computing disciplines, a series of workshops were facilitated; this chapter discusses the emergent themes from the 'Redesigning for Creative Recovery'... Read More about Provenance and production in Scotland's fashion sector: shifting stories..

Immersive innovations for the communication of heritage, handcraft and sustainability. (2023)
Journal Article
CROSS, K., MESJAR, L., STEED, J. and JIANG, Y. 2025. Immersive innovations for the communication of heritage, handcraft and sustainability. International journal of fashion design, technology and education [online], 18(1): conscious communities: exploring contemporary research and practice within fashion and textiles higher education, pages 15-25. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/17543266.2023.2277264

Textile and fashion brands convey core values through marketing, and in slow-fashion heritage brands this often includes skilled craftsmanship, authenticity, sustainability and provenance. As industry digitalisation continues, brands are employing im... Read More about Immersive innovations for the communication of heritage, handcraft and sustainability..

Collaborating with a Scottish heritage brand towards enhancing and preserving sustainable artisan hand-weaving practices through a knowledge transfer partnership. (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
STEED, J., CROSS, K. and WILSON, B. 2023. Collaborating with a Scottish heritage brand towards enhancing and preserving sustainable artisan hand-weaving practices through a knowledge transfer partnership. Journal of textile design research and practice [online], 11(1-2): revised papers from the 5th Futurescan conference (Futurescan 5): conscious communities, 7-8 September 2022, Leeds, UK, pages 127-147. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/20511787.2023.2234650

This paper discusses a Knowledge Transfer Project (KTP) with a global Scottish heritage brand, which aimed to develop a year-round sustainable business model through a design-led approach to new product innovation that improves the brand's sustainabi... Read More about Collaborating with a Scottish heritage brand towards enhancing and preserving sustainable artisan hand-weaving practices through a knowledge transfer partnership..

The intersection of fashion, immersive technology and sustainability: a literature review. (2023)
Journal Article
MESJAR, L., CROSS, K., JIANG, Y. and STEED, J. 2023. The intersection of fashion, immersive technology and sustainability: a literature review. Sustainability [online], 15(4), article number 3761. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043761

Fashion industry emissions, resource use and waste are attracting increasing consumer and government attention, with broad agreement that a new approach is required along the supply chain. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, a move to digitalisation fac... Read More about The intersection of fashion, immersive technology and sustainability: a literature review..

Shifting stories: provenance and production in Scotland's fashion and textile SMEs. (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
CROSS, K. 2021. Shifting stories: provenance and production in Scotland's fashion and textile SMEs. Presented at the 2021 Responsible fashion event (Responsible Fashion 2021): can fashion save the world? 14 October 2021, [virtual event].

Scottish textile jobs support the prosperity of many rural communities (Textiles Scotland 2016), for example the Harris Tweed hand-weavers in the Outer Hebrides. Scotland's traditional tweeds and tartans, cashmere and woollens continue to survive tod... Read More about Shifting stories: provenance and production in Scotland's fashion and textile SMEs..

Harris Tweed: a glocal case study. (2021)
Journal Article
CROSS, K., STEED, J. and JIANG, Y. 2021. Harris Tweed: a global case study. Fashion, style and popular culture [online], 8(4), pages 475-494. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1386/fspc_00102_1

Fast and effectively disposable fashion has seen clothing reduced to transient items, worn for a short period of time then discarded. This has pushed down prices, moving textile and clothing production to low-cost labour countries and decimating the... Read More about Harris Tweed: a glocal case study..

Well-being in liquid modernity: an annotated bibliography. (2021)
Journal Article
CROSS, K. 2021. Well-being in liquid modernity: an annotated bibliography. Fashion studies journal [online], Fashion and mental health. Available from: https://www.fashionstudiesjournal.org/fashion-mental-health-additional-resources/2021/7/1/well-being-in-liquid-modernity-an-annotated-bibliography

The studies for my PhD, titled "Comfort in Clothing: A Baumanian Critique of How Clothing Contributes to the Well-being of Women in the United Kingdom", utilized Zygmunt Bauman's concept of "liquid modernity" as a critical lens to explore the synergi... Read More about Well-being in liquid modernity: an annotated bibliography..

Comfort in clothing: a Baumanian critique of how clothing contributes to the well-being of women in the United Kingdom. (2021)
Thesis
CROSS, K.A. 2021. Comfort in clothing: a Baumanian critique of how clothing contributes to the well-being of women in the United Kingdom. Robert Gordon University, PhD thesis. Hosted on OpenAIR [online]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-1446979

This Comfort in Clothing study explores how fashion, clothing and dress practices contribute to the psychosocial well-being of women in the UK. Fashion is a global industry, fuelled in recent times by the growth of the athleisurewear sector, reflecti... Read More about Comfort in clothing: a Baumanian critique of how clothing contributes to the well-being of women in the United Kingdom..

Womenswear well-being warriors: a content analysis of female-targeted activewear brands on Instagram. (2020)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
CROSS, K. 2020. Womenswear well-being warriors: a content analysis of female-targeted activewear brands on Instagram. In Palomo-Lovinski, N. (ed.) Proceedings of 22nd International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes (IFFTI 2020): between individual and society: social justice through fashion paper and creative practice presentations, 24-27 March 2020, [virtual conference]. Kent, OH: Kent State University [online]. Available from: https://oaks.kent.edu/iffti2020/iffti-2020-between-individual-and-society-community/womenswear-well-being-warriors

In contemporary Western society, people are increasingly focused on well-being, with national well-being statistics reported by numerous developed economies. Wellness is now a consumer mindset, which has gone beyond a trend and become a lifestyle, de... Read More about Womenswear well-being warriors: a content analysis of female-targeted activewear brands on Instagram..

Comfort in clothing: fashion actors and victims. (2019)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
CROSS, K. 2019. Comfort in clothing: fashion actors and victims. In Miller, M. (ed.). Fashion: ID; proceedings of 21st International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institute (IFFTI) 2019 conference: fashion ID (IFFTI 2019), 8-12 April 2019, Manchester, UK. Manchester: Manchester Metropolitan University [online], pages 284-297. Available from: http://fashioninstitute.mmu.ac.uk/ifftipapers/paper-168/

Fashion psychology is an emerging discipline, recognising the potential of clothing to enhance well-being in an era when mental health issues are increasing in the Western world. Well-being is important to the individual and on a wider societal leve... Read More about Comfort in clothing: fashion actors and victims..

From augmented to authentic: weaving the past into the future. (2019)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
STEED, J., JIANG, Y. and CROSS, K. 2019. From augmented to authentic: weaving the past into the future. Presented at 2019 Shoormal conference: new coasts and shorelines: shifting sands in the creative economy, 18-21 September 2019, Lerwick, UK

As our understanding of the provenance and inherent value of artisan textile and craft skills alters through our increasingly digital and fast paced world, there needs to be a revaluing of hand/human processes that reconnect people and products in an... Read More about From augmented to authentic: weaving the past into the future..