Ken Ri is a Senior Lecturer in Textiles and worked in textile and fashion industry in South Korea, Hong Kong, and the UK before working in Higher Education. She is experienced in art/design practice, fashion buying and, global sourcing. She completed her PhD at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and joined Loughborough University in 2017.
Ken Ri’s research field is novel that investigates colour science, digital image processing, traditional hand/digital weaving, and smart textile materials to innovate woven textile coloration and designs. Her research solves the current limitations in multicolour productions, surface texture developments, and 3D form creations. Based on experiment-based research, she tests colour theories, digital images, and multi-layer weave structures.
She develops new systematic weaving applications and introduces the first-of-its-kind textile designs. The research developments have been disseminated via academic journals, conferences, international exhibitions.
Ken Ri is one of the few researchers who investigate in digital weaving for multi-colour productions. This niche research resolves not only the current limitations in woven textile designs, but also improves production efficiency. Her research has been recognised internationally with an outstanding originality. Ken Ri’s research has been published in SCI and SCOPUS listed journals and her novel Jacquard fabrics have won several international design awards.
Funded Projects
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
Principal Investigator, funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council (£250,000 fEC). The project aims to develop an optical yarn colour mixing system for the first time to innovate the current woven textile coloration. This project is collaborated with Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
SDCA Internal Research Fund
Integrating smart textile materials into digital Jacquard weaving (£1,292).
Ken Ri (FHEA) teaches all undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Her academic experience in South Korea, UK, and Hong Kong became a strong foundation to build a strength in teaching.
Ken Ri is one of the leading researchers in the woven textile coloration area and continuously takes challenges to prove unlimited potentials in woven textile design. She introduces a series of innovative textile designs and exhibits internationally.
Ken Ri has led industry collaborations with textile companies for undergraduate programme. Live projects and design competitions were embedded in teaching modules. Students exceptionally valued the learning experiences to interact and gain feedback from industry professionals.
She organised the showcasing of students’ work at Premiere Vision (International Textiles Fair) in Paris to promote the LU Textiles’ programme and to secure new placement opportunities for students.
She also reviews teaching partnerships to internationalise LU Textiles’ programmes.
Ken Ri supervises Doctoral Researchers and Research Associates in Textiles and Creative Arts. She welcomes research proposals that are aimed investigate and explore innovative weaving, interactive/smart textiles, textile design innovation.