This lecture explores the fascinating story of how dyes were discovered, made, and used from the earliest time to the end of the 18th century.

It shows the social importance of certain colours including red, blue, and purple.

It is a story that travels from Europe to India and the Americas, a story of exploration, invention, war, the church, money, power, and sex.

Susan has a longstanding interest in textiles, especially colour, and published her first book, The Story of Colour in Textiles (Bloomsbury) in 2013.

She has extensive lecturing experience and has been invited to lecture in the USA, Canada, China, Japan and Taiwan as well as for the V&A and across the UK.

In 2022 she published An Unbroken Thread: the 150-year history of the Royal School of Needlework. She is currently the President elect of the Society of Dyers and Colourists.