Xiaoling Zhang recently won ReFAB Studio’s Sustainability Award at the Royal College of Art in July 2026. The award celebrates her remarkable process of creating a community-based, inclusive artwork using left-over materials. Xiaoling worked with neurodivergent participants to explore, touch and weave remnant textiles and yarn into a colourful, participatory work which brightened up the RCA exhibition hall and celebrates diversity and inclusion with a cheerful brightness.
Tell us who you are and what your project is.
My name is Xiaoling Zhang. I am a textile artist and inclusive design practitioner graduating from MA Textiles at the Royal College of Art. My project, Second Touch, is about tactile textiles, inclusive making, and the quiet but powerful connections that can happen through materials.
The project explores how textile making can become a gentle way for neurodiverse participants to take part, make choices and contribute to something shared. I did not want participants to feel they had to follow complicated instructions or produce a fixed result. Instead, I wanted to create a space that could begin with touch: choosing a material, wrapping, weaving, knotting, connecting, pausing, or simply feeling their way into the process.
What was the spark that started this project?
The spark for this project came from a very personal place. I grew up with a close friend who is neurodivergent, and this long friendship has shaped how I understand care, difference and communication. It made me realise that not every meaningful connection needs to begin with words. Sometimes care is in the atmosphere, in the patience of waiting, in the freedom to choose, and in the small actions people repeat with their hands.
Coming to the UK also changed the way I think about inclusive practice. Through my time at RCA, and especially through volunteering and observing at Heart n Soul, I learned from many generous artists, tutors and practitioners who showed me that inclusion is not about designing “for” people from the outside. It is about creating conditions where people can bring themselves into the work in their own rhythm. That has been a very important lesson for me.
During the project, I carried out research in both China and the UK, including material feedback from Long Home in China and workshop testing with Heart n Soul in London. These experiences helped me understand that touch, choice, emotional stability and flexible participation are not small details. They are the foundation of whether someone feels safe, welcome and able to join in.
What makes your approach different from everything else?
What makes my approach different is that I do not see textile only as a finished object. I see it as a system for participation. I developed soft, grippable and flexible materials through weaving, wrapping, knotting, crochet, soft structures and recycled material experimentation. Participants can make individual textile units through simple hand actions, and these pieces can then be connected, suspended and reassembled into a collective textile structure. Each piece keeps the trace of someone’s choice, gesture and material experience.
How does sustainability show up in your work, and why does it matter to you personally?
Sustainability is central to the project, but not only in the material sense. Of course, Second Touch uses recycled and found materials, transforming overlooked textile waste into something tactile, playful and meaningful. This connects strongly with the spirit of ReFAB, where upcycling is not just about reducing waste, but about seeing new value in what has already existed.
For me, sustainability is also social. I wanted to create a workshop system that could continue beyond one exhibition. It is low-cost, adaptable and easy to repeat, without relying on expensive materials or specialist equipment. This matters to me because I hope to continue developing this work after I return to China. I want to bring what I have learned in the UK back into Chinese contexts, especially in relation to neurodiverse communities, inclusive workshops and community-based creative practice.
What's the hardest thing about designing sustainably that nobody talks about?
One of the hardest parts of designing sustainably is that it asks you to slow down. It is not only about choosing the “right” material. It is about listening carefully, testing with real people, accepting unexpected outcomes and allowing the work to change through participation. In inclusive design, the most meaningful result is not always the most perfect-looking one. Sometimes the real value is that someone felt comfortable enough to try, had a choice, and saw their small action become part of something larger.
What does winning this award mean to you?
Winning the ReFAB Award for Sustainable Design means a great deal to me. It feels like encouragement at a very important moment, just as I am finishing my MA and preparing to take this practice forward. The award recognises not only the final textile outcome, but also the values behind it: upcycling, inclusion, wellbeing, care and collective creativity.
It gives me confidence that this direction is worth continuing. It reminds me that sustainable design can be joyful, soft and human. It can be playful without being superficial, and caring without being heavy. For me, Second Touch is not just a project about textiles. It is about how we make space for different bodies, different rhythms and different ways of being together.