E-Textile Joining Technologies
RAU Textiles Research
Pushing the boundaries of textile research from AOTEAROA
Auckland University of Technology
Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau
School of Art & Design
Te Kura Toi a Hoahoa
ARONGA NUI
PURPOSE
He raranga rau tāngata, He rangahau rau kōrero, He rau rangahua ka puta. Woven outcomes through the binding of people, purpose, and possibility.
The grounding concept of this iho is raranga, to weave. The kairaranga (weaver) intertwines not only fibres, but history – binding together narratives and traditions, drawing from the rhythms, patterns, and textures of the taiao. Paired with rangahua – ranga (to search) and hua (as an output of energy) — our kaupapa centres on the gathering of people and their knowledge, stories, and methods across time and disciplines, to shape research and textile innovation.
This iho anchors us in our responsibility to hold these strands of knowledge within the broader context of contemporary textile practice. Each element holds connections to people, time, and ideas – embodying identity and belonging through textile expression. It inspires connections between people, the binding of passions, the layered complexities of research and knowledge and their intrinsic link to the taiao; gathering, weaving, and binding these diverse strands to re-enter the world transformed.
See examples of RAU projects for insight into the materials, contexts, and processes that inform our research.
TUKANGA
PROCESS
Grounded in AUT’s School of Art & Design, RAU researchers draw on material practice, textile technique, and interdisciplinary collaborative methods to expand our collective knowledge.
View RAU’s ongoing activities and events, exploring the practical dimensions of contemporary textile inquiry and innovation.
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Postgraduate Research: Gemma Goldfinch, A Vindication of Disorderly Women
As we continue highlighting the work of postgraduate research taking place through the RAU Textiles Research Centre and Facility, we are excited to share Gemma Goldfinch's 2026 Master of Design research, A Vindication of Disorderly Women: Using contemporary fashion design to respond to and portray the historical exclusion of women from tailoring practice. Turning to history to understand why the fashion industry has not achieved gender equality, Goldfinch's MDes research uncovers the story of women’s exclusion from tailoring guilds, highlighting the ingenuity required to carve out a space for themselves. The work intertwines contemporary and historical garment production techniques to imagine a world where Early Modern women had creative freedom. Read more about A Vindication of Disorderly Women on our RAU Research pages, here. -
Postgraduate Research: Milan Jeon, Denim, Deconstructed
As part of an ongoing series highlighting the work of postgraduate research taking place through the RAU Textiles Research Centre and Facility, we are revisiting some of our earlier Master's projects, beginning with Milan Jeon's 2024 Master of Design Research, Denim, Deconstructed: Deconstructing the notion of denim through avant-garde methods.Exploring deconstruction and reconstruction methods to highlight the rich material culture that remains within discarded denim garments, Jeon's MDes project offers a different perspective on upcycling by focusing on the textile qualities of discarded garments rather than their commodity value, using draping as the primary method to reconstruct deconstructed second-hand denim into new forms of bodily adornment.
Read more about Denim, Deconstructed on our RAU Research pages, here. -
Material Encounters
As part of her ongoing research project Material Encounters: Handmade Woollen Support Objects for Contemplative Practices, RAU researcher and AUT Fashion Lecturer Leica Johnson presented a collection of handmade woollen objects designed for touch, rest, & quiet reflection at Te Wai Ngutu Kākā this July. Visitors were welcome to sit, recline, pause, and rest within designated areas, and explore or view the exhibited objects. -
CTANZ Symposium: Haerenga/Journeys, Whanganui
CTANZ Symposium 2026
RAU researchers Arielle Walker, Rachel Carley, Jennifer Whitty, and Xinhan Zhang presented papers at the 2026 CTANZ Symposium: Haerenga/Journeys, in Whanganui this May. The symposium was a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with a network of makers and researchers around all things textile. Arielle discussed her practice-led research into narrative embroidered "tapestry" techniques, drawing from a previous textile residency experience with Textílmiðstöð Íslands/the Icelandic Textile Centre. Rachel shared the process of designing a series of paraikete (wool blankets), with colours and patterns deeply connected through her ancestral whenua, and their connection to the complex and ongoing histories of paraikete in Aotearoa. Drawing on more than 12 years of research and practice across Silk Road contexts, including China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Jennifer explored ‘decolonial unforgetting’ as a practice of decoloniality in fashion. Her presentation considered how encounters across cultures, places and knowledge systems can unsettle colonial frameworks and cultivate relational responsibility, reciprocity and learning across difference. As part of a postgraduate session to bring the conference to a resounding close, Xinhan Zhang shared from her recent MDes research, Feeling of Being, exploring basket weaving as a contemplative, practice-led process that reflects impermanence, memory, and evolving notions of home. Image: Xinhan Zhang, Feeling of Being presentation, CTANZ 2026 -
Semester 2 begins
As Matariki and Puanga rise for the new year, Semester Two is beginning again in the School of Art and Design. The RAU Textiles Facility has been humming with activity as new classes are inducted into the space — kicking off with carding! We are excited to see all our students' designs, ideas, and research experiments continue to unfold over the coming weeks.
As we continue highlighting the work of postgraduate research taking place through the RAU Textiles Research Centre and Facility, we are excited to share Gemma Goldfinch's 2026 Master of Design research, A Vindication of Disorderly Women: Using contemporary fashion design to respond to and portray the historical exclusion of women from tailoring practice.
Turning to history to understand why the fashion industry has not achieved gender equality, Goldfinch's MDes research uncovers the story of women’s exclusion from tailoring guilds, highlighting the ingenuity required to carve out a space for themselves. The work intertwines contemporary and historical garment production techniques to imagine a world where Early Modern women had creative freedom.
Read more about A Vindication of Disorderly Women on our RAU Research pages, here.
As part of an ongoing series highlighting the work of postgraduate research taking place through the RAU Textiles Research Centre and Facility, we are revisiting some of our earlier Master's projects, beginning with Milan Jeon's 2024 Master of Design Research, Denim, Deconstructed: Deconstructing the notion of denim through avant-garde methods.
Exploring deconstruction and reconstruction methods to highlight the rich material culture that remains within discarded denim garments, Jeon's MDes project offers a different perspective on upcycling by focusing on the textile qualities of discarded garments rather than their commodity value, using draping as the primary method to reconstruct deconstructed second-hand denim into new forms of bodily adornment.
Read more about Denim, Deconstructed on our RAU Research pages, here.
As part of her ongoing research project Material Encounters: Handmade Woollen Support Objects for Contemplative Practices, RAU researcher and AUT Fashion Lecturer Leica Johnson presented a collection of handmade woollen objects designed for touch, rest, & quiet reflection at Te Wai Ngutu Kākā this July. Visitors were welcome to sit, recline, pause, and rest within designated areas, and explore or view the exhibited objects.
CTANZ Symposium 2026
RAU researchers Arielle Walker, Rachel Carley, Jennifer Whitty, and Xinhan Zhang presented papers at the 2026 CTANZ Symposium: Haerenga/Journeys, in Whanganui this May. The symposium was a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with a network of makers and researchers around all things textile. Arielle discussed her practice-led research into narrative embroidered "tapestry" techniques, drawing from a previous textile residency experience with Textílmiðstöð Íslands/the Icelandic Textile Centre. Rachel shared the process of designing a series of paraikete (wool blankets), with colours and patterns deeply connected through her ancestral whenua, and their connection to the complex and ongoing histories of paraikete in Aotearoa. Drawing on more than 12 years of research and practice across Silk Road contexts, including China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Jennifer explored ‘decolonial unforgetting’ as a practice of decoloniality in fashion. Her presentation considered how encounters across cultures, places and knowledge systems can unsettle colonial frameworks and cultivate relational responsibility, reciprocity and learning across difference. As part of a postgraduate session to bring the conference to a resounding close, Xinhan Zhang shared from her recent MDes research, Feeling of Being, exploring basket weaving as a contemplative, practice-led process that reflects impermanence, memory, and evolving notions of home. Image: Xinhan Zhang, Feeling of Being presentation, CTANZ 2026
As Matariki and Puanga rise for the new year, Semester Two is beginning again in the School of Art and Design. The RAU Textiles Facility has been humming with activity as new classes are inducted into the space — kicking off with carding! We are excited to see all our students' designs, ideas, and research experiments continue to unfold over the coming weeks.
