Bradford Textiles Society Design Competition

Emily May reported on her experience as a judge for the 2019 Bradford Textile Society Design Competition in our recent Annual Review, 2018-19 (you can find digital copies of our recent past publications on the website at www.clothworkers.co.uk).

The Bradford Textile Society competition has been running since 1893, and attracts nearly 1,000 entries from across the UK every year, awarding more than £14,500 in prize money annually. We continue to support the competition with other funders, like The Dyers’ Company.

Among the four awards The Company sponsored for 2018-19 is The Clothworkers’ Company Award for a woven fabric design in either fashion and accessories or interiors. The winner was Eleanor Newton, who has recently completed her final year of study at Loughborough University.

Eleanor is a talented and experimental designer on the rise. She describes herself as a ‘creative trained in woven textile design’. During her degree, she held internships with JW Anderson, Dash & Miller, and Margo Selby. Her main interests are exploring the use of fabrics and fibres in fashion, and she is most interested in sustainability, longevity and transparent production. Ms Newton has recently completed her graduate project based on sustainability and transparent production, part of which she exhibited at New Designers this past June. She was also nominated for TexSelect (2019).

You can see more of her work at www.eleanornewtonportfolio.com.

Eleanor Newton’s ‘Box Bag’, designed to showcase handwoven panels and Britishmanufacturing. The woven panels contain sustainable fibres and are paired with highqualityleathers. The bags were part of Eleanor’s graduate project.