RCA professor Wendy Dagworthy to retire

Professor Wendy Dagworthy, who has taught some of the fashion world’s most famous names, including Stella McCartney,

Hussein Chalayan and Erdem, is to retire from the Royal College of Art.

Dagworthy joined the RCA as course director and professor of fashion in 1998 from Central St Martins. In 2001, she became head of the School of Fashion and Textiles, and in 2011, she was appointed Dean of the College’s newly formed School of Material, bringing together Fashion and Textiles with Ceramics & Glass and Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork and Jewellery.

“After sixteen years at the RCA, it’s fairly obvious that this place is very much part of me, and I know I will miss it tremendously,” said Professor Wendy Dagworthy OBE. “The College is unique, and I can truly say I have loved working with so many creative people – students and colleagues alike. My time here has been incredibly rewarding, and I look forward now to the next phase of my life – possibly in a hut on a sandy beach somewhere fabulously hot!”

Dr Paul Thompson, Rector of the Royal College of Art, added: “Wendy will be missed, not only by the legions of designers she has discovered, educated and mentored during her RCA career including Erdem and Holly Fulton, but also by her colleagues, past and present.

“I personally will miss her boundless energy, good humour and above all, her unbridled passion for and commitment to creative higher education.”

Before she started working as a university teacher, Dagworthy ran her own label, and during the 1990s she was a design consultant to companies such as Laura Ashley, Liberty and Betty Jackson.