Matthew Drinkwater

Biography

Matthew Drinkwater is Head of the Fashion Innovation Agency (FIA) at London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, where he runs the research group that turns emerging technology into working fashion industry practice. He advises the UK Government on AI and technology policy, and shares his perspective on how technology and creativity combine around the world.

Matthew builds working prototypes rather than ideas and concepts, delivering tangible products incorporating spatial computing and gaussian splatting, digital likeness and synthetic media, virtual production, and AI-driven design tools. He has built projects and collaborations with brands including Gucci, Chanel, Burberry and Farfetch, and led applied research spanning wearables, AR/VR, robotics, IoT and materials science. Earlier landmark projects, including the world's first digital skirt for Nokia, a working 3D-printed bionic arm for a Star Wars event, and wearable tech for Disney that Forbes called ‘the first example of truly beautiful wearable tech,’ embody Matthew’s team’s approach to ship rather than speculate. AI has been a part of Matthew’s work for years. Well before chatbots made it the focus of so many business conversations, the FIA was using it to design, prototype and teach long-term.

Whether it’s fashion and retail or finance and manufacturing, Matthew's central argument is that no single technology defines the next decade of creative industries. Rather, it's the convergence - AI working alongside spatial computing, gaussian splatting, XR and materials science, that is actually reshaping how creative work becomes reality. Within these changes, he contends, AI augments skills rather than replaces them. Practitioners that maximise these tools are those whose expertise makes them sharper collaborators with the technology, not redundant to it.

With a craft-first, worker-first perspective, Matthew addresses ideas beyond both fashion and technology. He has explored AI-generated digital likenesses and synthetic media principles, pushed for broader definitions of 'digital replica' that reflect fashion's specific vulnerabilities, and argued that notice-and-takedown mechanisms alone don't protect creatives whose livelihoods depend on their image, IP and their work.

In Matthew’s view, fashion is a uniquely useful and accessible lens for other industries to reflect on. It looks disruptive on the surface but is, underneath, one of the most traditional and slow-moving industries there is. That tension, deeply established craft and practice meeting disruptive, transformative technology, makes it a live case study for any sector or business considering how to adapt without losing its core skills and mission. He has translated those lessons for audiences in banking, insurance, automotive and engineering, always insisting the future is something you build hands-on, not something you wait to arrive.

Matthew was named in the 100 most influential people in the world of Wearable Technology, among the Top 15 people in UK tech by BBC3, and as a ‘fashion-tech trailblazer changing the course of retail’ by Drapers magazine. He is a regular commentator for Vogue Business, and has featured contributed his thoughts on the impact of AI and emerging technology on fashion to the BBC, The Guardian, the Telegraph, Forbes and Wired. He has also taken that same fashion industry lens to stages including CES, SXSW, London Fashion Week, Web Summit and the UN's AI for Good Summit.