How should we reframe our relationship to the things that surround us to support a circular future?

This keynote conversation explores the Imagine: Material Stories exhibition.

We welcome Dr Alice Payne, Dean of the School of Fashion and Textiles at RMIT and an award-winning author and educator, to moderate this conversation with changemakers Lisa Piller (Design Steward) and Ren Tapley (Future Materials).

Lisa will expand on the rich stories of design, craft and industry woven through her Walking in Circles project, which sits within the exhibition alongside furniture and objects by emerging designers commissioned by Renae. How might we embrace these material stories in our own lives?

Concession tickets available
Students and concession card holders can use the code FDWCONCESSION for 20% off tickets. For mob, use the code MOBTIX for a 50% discount.

Image: Stef King

Alice Payne

Dr Alice Payne is a Professor and Dean of the School of Fashion and Textiles at RMIT. Her research focuses on environmental and social sustainability issues throughout the life cycle of clothing. Recent work has examined labour issues in the cotton value chain, as well as technologies to address the problem of textile waste. Alice was part of the Australian Fashion Council-led consortium designing the National Clothing Product Stewardship Scheme. She is author of the book Designing Fashion’s Future, co-editor of Global Perspectives on Sustainable Fashion, and is an award-winning designer and educator.

Renae Tapley

Renae is an Associate Director at Foolscap Studio with over 20 years leading interior architecture projects, and a driving force for sustainable building materials in Australia’s construction industry. She’s the founder of Future Materials, a marketplace platform connecting designers, builders and manufacturers with low carbon, circular products – a passion project backed by a 2023 WA Government Innovation Booster Grant and a 2023 Churchill Fellowship researching green materials innovation in global markets. Alongside her Bachelor of Arts in Interior Architecture (Honours) from Curtin University, Renae is a Green Star Accredited Professional, a member of MECLA and has volunteered internationally with Architects without Frontiers.

Lisa Piller

Lisa Piller is a designer, researcher, curator and creative producer working across circular and regenerative fashion and textile systems. With more than 30 years’ experience spanning fashion design, product development, education and creative practice, her work connects design with industry, community and place. As the 2025 Australian Sustainability Fellow, Lisa undertook international research across Asia and Europe exploring circular and regenerative textile systems. She is currently undertaking a PhD at RMIT University, where her creative practice research, Walking in Circles, brings together Western Australian designers, makers and material innovators to explore how collaborative place-based design practice can contribute to regenerative textile futures.