/ALIGN

DESIGNER. RESEARCHER. STRATEGIST. EDUCATOR.

Katarina Rimarcikova - founder of /ALIGN

Katarina Rimarcikova is an independent designer, researcher, consultant and educator working across fashion, materials, circularity, innovation and responsible design.

Her practice has developed across more than 18 years of work spanning luxury fashion, textiles, product development, manufacturing, higher education and sustainability innovation.

She began her career in luxury fashion, including experience with Alexander McQueen and Gucci under Tom Ford, before establishing her own womenswear practice in Paris following her studies at Central Saint Martins.

Alongside her design career, Katarina has worked in higher education since 2005, across Paris and the UK, developing and leading programmes at postgraduate and graduate level. Her academic practice has consistently focused on connecting education with industry, emerging practice and interdisciplinary innovation. She created and led a pioneering MA Collaborative unit at LCF — a platform connecting higher fashion education with industry, external expertise and real-world projects. This work reflects a longstanding belief that education should not operate separately from the industries and systems its graduates are entering.

Her experience spans strategic and creative development, from materials and product concepts through to fashion lines, brand development, sourcing, manufacturing, creative direction and retail concepts.

Her career subsequently expanded beyond conventional fashion design into education, material research, manufacturing, sustainability and cross-disciplinary innovation: Katarina has worked across fashion design, textiles and materials, product and brand development, manufacturing, sustainability, circularity, innovation and education. Her work increasingly sits at the intersection of design and emerging technologies, connecting fashion with science, materials research, manufacturing and new models of enterprise.

She has worked with and contributed to initiatives involving organisations including Pro Helvetia, Luxinnovation, The Sustainable Angle / Future Fabrics Expo, Lenzing, WORTH, Centre for Sustainable Fashion, Centre for Fashion Enterprise, CFDA and the New York Academy of Sciences, alongside designers, brands, manufacturers and emerging businesses.

Today, her work focuses on the space where creative practice meets systems change: Katarina works with brands, investors, innovators, founders and education organisations on challenges involving material innovation, circularity, responsible product development, emerging technologies, manufacturing and future-facing business models.

A CROSS-DISCIPLINARY PRACTICE

Katarina's experience spans:

DESIGN
Luxury womenswear · 3D design · draping · product development

MATERIALS
Fibres · textiles · alternatives · material research · innovation

INDUSTRY
Manufacturing · sourcing · supply chains · brands · product development

CIRCULARITY
Circular design · responsible development · new business models

INNOVATION
Technology · cross-disciplinary collaboration · future solutions

EDUCATION
Higher education · lectures · curriculum · mentoring · executive learning

This combination allows her to approach challenges from both sides:

the creative reality of designing and making products — and the strategic reality of changing the systems around them.

FOUNDING FELLOW

Circular Economy Institute

Katarina is a Founding Fellow of the Circular Economy Institute, contributing her experience across circular design, materials, fashion and innovation to the wider circular economy community.

HE FELLOWSHIP

FHEA / UK Professional Standards Framework for teaching and learning support in higher education

The Manchester Metropolitan University

ALIGN

ALIGN is Katarina's platform for connecting these fields.

It exists to create conversations, projects and collaborations that might not happen within conventional professional boundaries.

DESIGN × MATERIALS × INDUSTRY × TECHNOLOGY × CIRCULARITY × EDUCATION