COCKPIT ARTS: THE CLOTHWORKERS’ AWARD Three New Weavers Join the Deptford Studio, as the 2018 Award Recipients Take the Next Step
T
hree new weavers have joined the Cockpit Arts studio with a bursary funded by The Clothworkers’ Company. Alicia Rowbotham is a bespoke textile designer with a focus on sustainable and responsible design. Her practice focuses on collaboration between manufacturers and designers, harnessing the potential of textile mill waste and utilising this resource for the benefit of both the industry and the designer. Since graduating from Central Saint Martins with a specialist degree in woven textiles in 2019, Alicia has been driven by the reclamation of traditional, established craft methods in a contemporary context. She is currently working with Joyce Wang Studio on the refurbishment of The Berkeley Hotel, Knightsbridge, and creating a range of decorative textile elements with waste materials inspired by a ‘Makers House’ concept of collaborative craftsmanship. Francesca Miotti graduated from
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THE CLOTHWORKER | AUTUMN 2020
Central Saint Martins in 2020. She works with weaving as a medium to be included in several contexts, moving away from the usual idea of cloth and using the technical restrictions of the process to allow a more conscious experience with materials and their qualities. Recently, Francesca collaborated with a Reggio Emilia Approach nursery, gathering inspiration from the natural responses of children towards materials and textile techniques, using hand-weaving as a way of translating the actions into sculptural sensory and interactive pieces which embody this relationship. She uses a variety of weaving and traditional hand-finishing techniques, as well as basketry, to combine paper yarns and different fibres. After graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2018, Millie Thomas worked within the woven textiles industry in Italy, designing for an Italian weaving mill, and in London for a heritage woven textiles company. Millie takes
a biomimetic approach to her work, drawing inspiration from nature to create bold patterns, 3D textures and elegant structures. She uses extra weft figuring techniques and warp floats – mixing yarn types, colours and finishes. She aims to continue developing her practice to explore the intersection between science and design, integrating the beauty and complexity of nature into fabrics and products.
Below: A sample of Millie’s work. Facing page: One of Francesca’s projects features on the top, with an example of Alicia’s work beneath it.
