Key areas: textiles, fashion, upcycling, sustainability, education, communities

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Project management   |   Textile skills tutor   |   Creative commissions   |   Education resource development

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Guest Speaking

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- University of the Arts London, DESIS Lab, Common Good Design

- University of the Arts London, Centre for Circular Design, Chariocity 

- University of Manchester, panel talk, Activist Creatives

- WOW (Women of the World) Rotherham Festival: Fashioning Citizens

- All Party Parliamentary Group for Ethics and Sustainability in Fashion, Creative Wellbeing Economy

- Manchester Metropolitan University: Design and Society

- Kirklees College: Fashioning Citizens

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Contributing Expert

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- World Circular Textiles Day: Curator and Host of Panel Talk: Social Value of the Third Sector
- British Fashion Council Institute of Positive Fashion: Creating Circular Fashion Ecosystems network

- Fashion Roundtable: Creative Wellbeing, hion 
- Innovate UK: Textile Circularity Ignite Labs

- The Royal Society of Arts, Leeds Fashion Futures: Make Fashion Circular

- University of Leeds: Yorkshire Circular Lab

- West Yorkshire Combined Authority: Creative Industries cluster fashion and textiles steering group

 

Textile Skills Practitioner 

- Nottingham Trent University, School of Art and Design: Fashion Fictions

- WRAP, Love Your Clothes: Leeds Supercrafter

- WOVEN in Kirklees: Mission to Mend

- Thread Republic CIC: Upcycle Fashion Youth Club 
 

Published Contributions and Articles

- Bailey, R. et al. (2026) ‘Lifelong Learning on the High Street: exploring a capabilities approach to place-based
cultural development in Kirklees’, International Journal of Lifelong Education.

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- Fashion and Textile Upcycling 

- Roebuck, J (2022) “Mills and More: Inspiring textile futures in West Yorkshire’, Engage: The International Journal
of Visual Art and Gallery Education. Issue 46: Generation Z and the Future of Creative Work.

Podcast Guest

- Wardrobe Crisis by Claire Press, Episode 245: A Love Letter to Local Textile Skills with Julia Roebuck
- Youth Social What The Friday!, Episode 19: The Fast Fashion Episode

 

Volunteering

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- Charity Retail Assistant: Crossroads Community Shop, (Independent Charity Shop), Retail Assistant, 2020 - present
- Huddersfield Textile Society, Committee member, 2025 - present

- Thread Republic CIC, Director, 2022 - present 

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WOVEN in Kirklees - Mission To Mend

Julia was the Programme Manager for Mission to Mend, a flagship programme for the WOVEN in Kirklees
textiles festival in 2023. It developed from conversations with local communities during the pandemic around the
need for repair skill sharing, and a desire to connect with others to celebrate the stories of where we live. Mission
to Mend addressed pressing issues for people and the planet, drawing inspiration from the rich textile heritage of
the area. Highlights in this role were:

- Recruiting and managing a team of 10 textile repair practitioners
- Working with external fundraising teams and the local authority to secure funding (National Lottery Heritage
Fund and the Ashley Family Foundation)
- Organising, promoting and evaluating over 50 workshops teaching hand sewing skills for textile repair
across 5 towns

 

Thread Republic 

Thread Republic CIC is a circular textiles hub in Huddersfield town centre. The deliver circular textile
programmes focus on product longevity, innovation, creativity, community and wellbeing. They enable alternative
choices that build a circular system to reduce waste and connect people with skills, creativity and incentives to
drive behaviour change. As Director of Circular Textiles, Julia has developed and delivered key work
programmes at this award-winning social enterprise:

- Annual Upcycle Challenges: Utilising large quantities of surplus textile through dissemination to
upcyclers, with all garments celebrated across static exhibition and catwalk event.
- Monthly Clothes Swaps: Free clothes swap every second Saturday of the month.
- Textile Citizens: An exhibition and legacy conversation curating local and national work to examine how
our relationships with textiles affect their longevity
- Youth Engagement: A skills workshop and volunteering programme to engage young people with issues
around textile waste, overconsumption and exploring what ownership engagement means to them.

Education & Training

BA Textile Design, Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London. 2006 - 2009
MA Fashion and the Environment, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London. 2009 - 2011
Fashion’s Future: The Sustainable Development Goals. Future Learn, online course. 2020
Textile Manufacturing Skills Bootcamp, Textile Centre of Excellence, West Yorkshire. 2025