On 17 September 2014, Nino Cerruti presented prestigious prizes to the exceptional British-trained textile design graduates selected to exhibit under the auspices of Texprint at Indigo/Première Vision.

Nino Cerruti said, “The world is full of crazy artists – but we are industrial designers. We must be artists and designers.

The creative and imagination skills need to translate back into clothing and real applications. It is so pleasing to see that the next generation of designers selected to exhibit at Texprint 2014 understand the commercial imperatives that underpin successful design.”

Eminent representatives from the worlds of fashion, interiors, specialist textiles and retailing selected four highly talented graduates from British universities for prizes in the Colour, Pattern, Space and Body categories. 24 designers were in contention for the Texprint prizes, as well as The Woolmark Company Texprint Award and, new for 2014, the Miroglio Texprint Award for Digital Innovation. lululemon athletica had already announced the names of 2 winners. The winning designers each received £1000.00

Barbara Kennington, Chairman, Texprint said: “This exciting new edition of the Texprint showcase at Indigo/PV offers both fashion and interiors industries the opportunity to view the collections of rigorously selected ‘best of the best’ graduate textile designers, all trained in Britain. Their work is unique, exclusive, totally fresh; as designers each is highly talented, professional, and ready to take the textile industry by storm!”

TEXPRINT® AWARDS 2014
The Texprint prizes were awarded as follows:Space: Georgia Fisher
Georgia Fisher completed an MA in Textiles: Weave at the Royal College of Art, having previously gained a BA in weave at Central St Martins. She was awarded bursaries in 2013 and 2014 from The Worshipful Company of Weavers and won the 2014 Jaeger competition. She gained work experience with The Jackson. Continue reading →

Jessica Leigh Calvert was awarded the British Contract Furnishing Association One Award at New Designers in June 2014. She creates handwoven and digital fabrics for interior spaces.

Whilst studying for her BA (Hons) Textile Design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design she was fascinated by architectural landscapes and texture where she explores these ideas, combining high contrasts within her work. Jessica’s portfolio features woven fabrics that emulate a glamorous and tactile feel. A sensual colour palette, varied textures and exquisite craftsmanship inform her distinctive style, she also experiments with weaving techniques both modern and traditional. Jessica’s collection’s are described as subtle, timelessly elegant yet evoke a contemporary edge.

Her final collection for her degree was entitled ‘Textured Disparity’ which takes its name and inspiration from a journey she took across Southern China. Within the collection she wanted to capture the elegance and bold presence of modern buildings and constructions juxtaposing the exquisite rural landscape. The collection is versatile and modern yet elegant; the fabrics emulate a rustic feel whilst adding a flourish of subtle glamourand also have a distance appeal and yet are detailed on closer inspection. The fabrics are an assortment of contrasting textures and patterns in a sophisticated palette with flickers of vibrant colour to fashion a strong statement. The textures and colour palette work effortlessly within an interior space.

The Judges commented that ‘We felt that Jessica’s colour was equally matched within an exceptional portfolio. We were impressed by the depth of research and transition of her vision into a commercial product.’

Jessica will have a four week internship with the design studio at FR One in Antwerp as the award prize.

Thank you to Jessica Calvert and New Designers for the photos and text.

The Worshipful Company of Weavers Associate Prize was won by Amy Gair at New Designers exhibition in London.

Amy is from Shetland and studied a BA in Contemporary Textiles at the University of Highlands and Islands, before she progressed onto Heriot Watt’s School of Textiles and Design to complete her honours year in a BA(Hons) in Design for textiles, specialising in weave.

She graduated from Heriot Watt in June 2014 with First Class honours and won The Incorporation of Bonnetmakers and Dyers of Glasgow Prize at  her graduation for her  ‘Industrial North’ collection of dobby and jacquard woven fabrics.

Her ‘Industrial North’ Collection was focussed on Shetland and its northern identity as a remote Scottish Island. As the island is located half way between the Scottish Mainland and Norway, there are some Scandinavian influences  which ideas she  have tried to incorporate too. The collection brings together Shetland, Scandinavian design influences and traditional Scottish woven fabric qualities such as twills, herringbones and checks. She used a combination of wool, merino, lambs wool and also some Shetland wool too.

She  used her own photography and mixed media artworks to create ideas for translating into weaving which are a crucial part to her design process.Amy is about to embark on a Masters in Textiles and Fashion at Glasgow School of Art and aims to work  in the UK textiles industry after graduating from this course. She eventually would like to set up her own textile label back in Shetland.

Website: www.brownsroadtextiles.com

Twitter: @brownsroad
Blog: amygair.wordpress.com

The Worshipful Company of Weavers

Photography of award event: copyright New Designers 2014.
Other photography and text: Amy Gair 2014
Continue reading →