School of Fashion and Textiles Deep Dossier: From the 1957 Textile Department to the Third Flagship School

Module: 01 Academics · Sub-file: School of Fashion and Textiles Deep Dossier This dossier focuses on PolyU's School of Fashion and Textiles (SFT): its roots trace back to the Department of Textile Industries in 1957, followed by decades of operation as the Institute of Textiles and Clothing (ITC) from 1977, and finally its elevation in 2022 to become the University's third independent flagship school (after the School of Design and the School of Hotel and Tourism Management). For the School of Design, see design-school.md; for the SHTM, see hotel-tourism-school.md. Sources are predominantly PolyU press releases, the official SFT history, and PolyU publications; dates and formulations follow the official record.

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# 1. At a Glance

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# 2. 1957: Textile Education, Born the Same Year as Hung Hom

SFT's origin lies in the Department of Textile Industries, established in 1957 under the mother institution, the Hong Kong Technical College. The timing is significant—1957 is precisely the year PolyU moved into its present Hung Hom campus (see 00 Overview · History). In other words, textile education was part of PolyU's disciplinary map almost from the moment the University settled in Hung Hom.

In 1950s Hong Kong, the textile and garment industries were on the rise as pillar sectors. The Hong Kong Technical College's decision to set up a Department of Textile Industries was a textbook example of its "serving Hong Kong's industrial manpower needs" logic: Hong Kong needed textile technologists, so the Technical College ran a textile department. Like the hotel and catering programmes of the same era (the future SHTM) and design, this was the applied-education DNA of PolyU at work.

Source strength: The 1957 Department of Textile Industries is documented in the official SFT history; the coincidence with the Hung Hom move is documented in PolyU's institutional history.

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# 3. The ITC Era: Decades as the "Institute of Textiles and Clothing"

In 1977, the Department of Textile Industries was renamed the Institute of Textiles and Clothing (ITC). For the ensuing decades, the ITC was the vehicle for PolyU's textile and fashion education and research, earning a reputation in textile education across Asia and the world.

Key features of the ITC era: from 1977 to 2022, the ITC name endured for over four decades, training large numbers of professionals in textiles, garments and fashion; ITC graduates held qualifications awarded by PolyU (or its predecessor), and while the name changed with the elevation to SFT, the academic tradition carried on; in research, the Institute built international standing in fields such as functional textiles and textile technology.

Source strength: The 1977 renaming to ITC and the long ITC operation are documented in the official SFT history and PolyU press releases.

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# 4. 2022: Elevation to the Third Flagship Independent School

According to a PolyU press release (September 2022)^※, in 2022—the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region—the University formally elevated the ITC to establish the School of Fashion and Textiles (SFT), making it PolyU's third flagship and independent school. The inauguration ceremony was held on 2 September 2022 at the Jockey Club Innovation Tower.

The "third independent school" positioning is crucial: in PolyU's structure, the vast majority of academic departments sit under some "Faculty"; but the School of Design, the School of Hotel and Tourism Management, and the School of Fashion and Textiles are independent "Schools" standing parallel to the Faculties—each enjoying a higher degree of autonomy. SFT's admission to this rank signals the seriousness with which PolyU treats fashion and textiles.

SFT's inauguration ceremony was held at the Jockey Club Innovation Tower, designed by Zaha Hadid—a building that also houses the School of Design (see 05 Campus · Jockey Club Innovation Tower). Holding the fashion and textiles school's opening at this design landmark was itself a signal: "fashion is a branch of design".

Source strength: The 2022 elevation, the third-flagship-independent-school status, and the inauguration (2 September 2022, Innovation Tower) are documented in the PolyU press release.

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# 5. Academic Architecture: Five Specialisations and the Postgraduate Ladder

SFT's current Dean is Professor Erin Cho^※, who has additionally held the donation-named Limin Professor in Integrated Strategies and Leadership in Fashion since February 2024; she is the School's first Executive Dean following its elevation to independence. According to the SFT programme overview^※, the School's programme ladder spans undergraduate through postdoctoral levels:

The composition of the five specialisations is worth pausing over: Fashion Design, Knitwear Design, and Intimate Wear & Active Wear lean toward traditional creative/craft training; Fashion Business corresponds to industry management; and Fashion Innovation & Technology speaks directly to the smart-textile research direction covered below. This "creative + business + technology" three-track structure is considerably broader than the pure textile-and-garment training of the ITC era—and a direct reflection of the curricular reform that came with elevation to SFT status.

Source strength: The Dean's appointment is documented in PolyU's official news; the programme structure, five specialisations and postgraduate ladder come from the official SFT programme overview.

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# 6. Research Landscape: From "Fabric" to "Smart Textiles"

SFT's research has long outgrown the traditional "textiles and garments" frame. According to the PolyU press release^※, its academic and research directions cover:

Directions such as "smart textiles", "medical textiles" and "sustainable fashion" cross traditional textiles with the frontiers of electronics, health, environmental science and digital technology—in keeping with PolyU's overall applied-research orientation (advanced textiles, for instance, have won TechConnect Innovation Awards; see 04 Research · State Key Laboratories).

These research directions are not empty slogans; they are anchored in concrete research institutes. SFT houses two signature research bodies:

According to PolyU Scholars Hub statistics^※, SFT has to date (1997–2026 window) published approximately 1,628 papers, attracting 41,916 citations with an h-index of 95, including 71 granted patents—composite materials, surface science, textiles, materials science and energy harvesting rank highest in its research fingerprint, showing that the School's research has long since extended from textile processing into the crossover zone of materials engineering and energy applications.

The medical-textiles direction resonates with PolyU's applied research in rehabilitation and medical assistive devices (see 01 Academics · Faculty of Health and Social Sciences), but the two belong to different Schools developing independently and should not be conflated.

Source strength: The list of research directions is from the PolyU press release; the RI-IWEAR and RCTFF positioning and leadership are from the two institutes' official websites; research-output data are from PolyU Scholars Hub.

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# 7. Deep Dive into the Research Institutes: Magnetorheological Fibres and a Nature Breakthrough

SFT's most representative achievement in smart textiles in recent years is research on magnetorheological smart fibres published in the journal Nature^※—a concrete case showing that "smart textiles" at PolyU is no abstract phrase on a list of research directions.

According to media reports, a team led by Professor Xiaoming Tao, Director of RI-IWEAR, and Dr Junhong Pu, Assistant Professor (Research) at SFT, developed soft magnetorheological textiles that deform under magnetic fields safe for the human body: electrically driven, programmable, and retaining the lightweight, flexible and breathable qualities of textiles. The innovative fibres measure just 57 microns in diameter; by uniformly dispersing magnetic powder in a low-density polyethylene matrix, they achieve directionally controllable responses under low-intensity magnetic fields—a departure from conventional smart materials. The team demonstrated three application prototypes: soft dexterous grippers (capable of grasping fragile objects), remote haptic fingertip gloves (for remote surgery and virtual try-ons), and actively ventilated thermoregulating fabrics (intelligently adjusting breathability). The research received HK$62.37 million in funding under the Research Grants Council's "2024/25 Theme-based Research Scheme", and the paper was published in Nature under the title "Vector-stimuli-responsive magnetorheological fibre materials".

Source strength: The details of the magnetorheological fibre research, funding amount and journal publication come from mainstream technology-media reports (the original paper's information is subject to the Nature journal page; this dossier did not directly verify the paper itself).

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# 8. Aiming at the Greater Bay Area Fashion Industry

According to the PolyU press release, SFT's establishment explicitly targets opportunities in the fashion industry of the Greater Bay Area—nurturing innovative, creative fashion talent to seize the opportunities presented by the GBA's upgrading of its fashion and manufacturing industries.

The logic behind this positioning: the Greater Bay Area (especially Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Dongguan and others) is both a globally significant manufacturing base for textiles and garments and a region shifting toward the higher value-added "design + brand + technology" end; with Hong Kong serving as a fashion and design hub, PolyU's SFT is well placed to play a role in the synergy of "Hong Kong creativity/R&D + GBA manufacturing/market" (echoing 09 Internationalisation · Mainland and the GBA).

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# 9. SFT in PolyU's Disciplinary Landscape

Together with the School of Design and the SHTM, SFT forms PolyU's flagship school cluster of "applied + creative": the School of Design—product, interaction, visual, social innovation and other diverse design fields; the SHTM—hotel, tourism and hospitality management (with its teaching hotel, Hotel ICON); the SFT—fashion and textiles (creativity + textile technology).

All three share the traits of independent flagship School status, international reputation + industry connectivity + applied education. SFT's independence (2022) is the latest step in PolyU's sustained strengthening of its "creative + applied" brand.

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# 10. SFT vs. the School of Design and the SHTM: Commonalities and Differences Among the Three Independent Schools

Placing SFT within the "three independent flagship schools" framework reveals several shared patterns—and its distinctive features. Commonalities: all three followed a multi-stage elevation path of "department → long-running intermediate form → independent School" (Design: department → Swire School of Design → School of Design; Hotel & Tourism: department → school → independent; Textiles: department → ITC → SFT); all three became independent decades after their disciplinary origins; all three present themselves to the outside world through "international reputation + physical landmark/facilities" (Design has the Innovation Tower, Hotel & Tourism has Hotel ICON). Differences: SFT is the only one of the three without its own landmark building—it borrowed the School of Design's Jockey Club Innovation Tower for its inauguration and has no dedicated building comparable to Hotel ICON or the Innovation Tower. This is worth noting, so readers do not assume SFT has a corresponding signature building of its own. It also suggests, from the side, that SFT's "flagship" status rests more on disciplinary history (1957, the earliest of the three) and industry connectivity (Greater Bay Area fashion manufacturing) than on architectural display.

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# 11. The PolyU Fashion Show: From Classroom to Catwalk

SFT's annual PolyU Fashion Show is the year's showcase event for teaching outcomes and a major gateway for students into the industry. According to a PolyU press release^※, the PolyU Fashion Show 2026 was held on 3 July 2026 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre^※, presenting 21 collections totalling 78 outfits by 21 final-year graduates, spanning casual wear, evening wear, intimate wear and active sportswear. The event drew some 1,200 industry professionals and designers on site, with online viewership exceeding 13,000.

Students' work made extensive use of experimental techniques—3D printing, vacuum-formed resin moulding, fermentation and crystallisation processes—alongside organic materials such as bioplastics and kombucha scoby, echoing the teaching direction of the "Fashion Innovation & Technology" specialisation described above. The judging panel also reflected SFT's alumni network extending into industry: five alumni active in the fashion world served as star judges, including a representative of the Consinee Group, CONSTYLE founder Constance Lee, ONS Clothing brand manager Florence Tsui, Kit Wan Studios founder Kit Wan, and Wilsonkaki founder Wilson Yip, with further representatives from the Hong Kong Intimate Apparel Industries' Association and the Hong Kong Fashion Designers Association joining the judging.

Source strength: The 2026 Fashion Show's date, venue, number of collections, audience figures and judging list are from the PolyU Chinese-language press release.

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