CELEBRATING TEXTILES INNOVATION
“My work features needle felting, machine couching and hand tufting ... I was inspired by structured botany and have enjoyed combining the geometry of machine couching with the softness of hand tufting. I was shocked to win first prize. It’s an amazing achievement ... as it’s from a highly regarded organisation that everyone in the textiles industry respects.” Kerry Napier, a 22-year-old winner from Newcastle (pictured above)
T
he Company and Foundation have been long-standing supporters of the annual Bradford Textile Society Design Competition and New Designers.
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• The Bradford Textile Society Design Competition, also supported by the Dyers’, has been running since 1893 and attracts nearly 1,000 entries from across the UK every year. We committed £4,650 in 2017 to continue our support for six award categories celebrating knitted, printed and woven textile designs as well as innovation in combining textile processes and introducing new textile materials or utilising new technologies to advance the field. The 2018 winners are: •
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Wendy Roger (Heriot-Watt University): knitted design for either fashion or interiors THE CLOTHWORKER | AUTUMN 2018
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Sophie Penwright (Bedford College): printed design for either fashion or interiors which shows creative potential from an undergraduate student Hollie Andrews (Loughborough University): woven design for fashion Helena Cockwill (Falmouth University): woven design for interiors Kerry Napier (De Montfort University): design for fashion or interiors that shows an innovative combination of textile processes Emma Carruthers (Leeds Arts University): material construction for either fashion or interiors produced by non-conventional processes and/or materials, or by new technologies.
NEW DESIGNERS: THE CLOTHWORKERS’ COMPANY ASSOCIATE PRIZE This past June, Claudia Sabina Veneroni won our New Designers’ Associate Prize for her ‘Hong Kong Collection’. A 22-year-old graduate of The Glasgow School of Art, Claudia demonstrated a ‘brave, trend-setting, innovative’ approach to her designs, as well as a good sense of colour and a complete understanding of the complexities, opportunities and limitations involved in the technical production required to move her ideas from designs to products. She specialises in digital print design as well as embroidered and surface textiles. Her work combines illustration and textile design to tell surrealist stories inspired by people and travel. TexSelect has named Chelsea as one of their top 24 graduate textile designers, and they invited her to exhibit the ‘Hong Kong Collection’ in the London Preview (Chelsea, July 2018) and the forthcoming Première Vision Designs (Paris, September 2018) – The Master will be attending the latter. It is a key strategic aim of The Company to encourage innovation and foster talent among students
