Shaun is Associate Dean; Business, Innovation and Projects and is Head of the Digital Hack Lab, In Pursuit of Luxury and Creative Ideas in the School of Creative Arts. He is interested in design-led innovation where design comes first—not as a service to fulfill a business strategy but as a visionary path where design is considered to be an intrinsic part of decision making. This invites a new kind of multi and trans-disciplinary collaboration from around the world.
He also works as an independent consultant to luxury brands and associations around the globe. They have included Unity PR, Ford, Finpro, The Cape Town Fashion Council, Ford, Thomas Pink, Fortnum and Mason, Dolce Gabbana and Gucci. He is a regular Keynote speaker at events around the world as an authority on luxury branding and fashion, consumerism and brand strategies. Shaun’s research evaluates notions of luxury that seem far removed from today’s world of excessive consumption.
He explores how technology is changing the perception of the hand made in the context of how luxury brands have grown as a result of being able to supply historically hand-crafted products en-masse through technological innovation. His practice, in collaboration with Professor Mark Bloomfield, includes the development of Modeclix, the world’s first fully customizable 3D printed textile. Modeclix has been nominated for a numerous international 3D print awards.
