Philippa Watkins is a textile consultant and freelance writer based in London. She is also a research fellow and lecturer at the Royal College of Art, from which she graduated with a masters degree in textile design. She has worked for Deryck Healey International and was head of the fabric division at Nigel French Enterprises - a colour, fabric and fashion consultancy with clients worldwide.

Subsequently, she became textile design manager for the clothes division of Laura Ashley. There she was responsible for sourcing and selecting fabrics, and working with fabric manufacturers on cloth design programmes. Later, she became design controller for Liberty of London Prints.

Philippa Watkins is author of Luxury Fibres: Rare Materials for Higher Added Value, Textiles Intelligence Special Report No 2633, published in July 1992. Also, she reports twice a year for Textile Outlook International on the European textile fairs.