NEW DESIGNERS

NEW DESIGNERS: ELLEN MARTIN The Clothworkers’ Company Printed Textile Design Award

For 2020, the New Designers awards were managed remotely and celebrated with a virtual ceremony this past September. Clothworkers Fiona Ginnett, Scarlet Oliver and Emily May acted as judges for the Printed Textile Design Award. They awarded our Clothworkers’ Associate Prize to Ellen Martin.

The award brief invited applicants to be brave, trend setting, innovative and have a good sense of colour with a specific end use in mind. Applicants were asked to also demonstrate preparedness to ‘cross over’ into other merchandise arenas.

This past July, Ellen graduated from The Glasgow School of Art with a BA (Hons) in Textile Design. Her graduate collection, ‘Kyoto’ is based on research she gathered while studying traditional Japanese textile techniques at Kyoto Seika University in 2019. Photographs taken in the streets, shrines and temples of the city were translated into detailed drawings and collages, with a focus on repeat pattern. This led Ellen to experimentation with pleated and folded papers, informed by origami, to consider how patterns change when manipulated and folded.

From the research drawings and collages, a series of repeat patterns were developed digitally, then layered over images of pleats and folds to achieve a three-dimensional effect. The textile outcomes include digitally printed silk habotai with subtle pleat and fold illusions, which has been used to produce a range of hand-made scarves and tops. In addition to the digital print designs that Ellen submitted to New Designers, her collection features designs made with a combination of other textile techniques, including samples of Katazome (a Japanese resistdyeing method).

During the virtual award presentation, Clothworker judge Emily May said, ‘We were impressed by the subtleties in Ellen’s work, her use of colour, and her commitment to a wide variety of textile processes. We feel that her dedication to thoroughness will be an asset to the industry.’

After receiving the news, Ellen wrote, ‘I am absolutely delighted to have won “I am absolutely delighted to have won The Clothworkers’ Company’s Printed Textile Design Award. New Designers is an important event in the textile design calendar, and I had been looking forward to it throughout my studies.”

Ellen, Award Recipient

The Clothworkers’ Company Printed Textile Design Award. New Designers is an important event in the textile design calendar, and I had been looking forward to it throughout my studies. I am so pleased that my work has been recognised, despite not being able to take part in a physical showcase this year. The prize money will help me to produce my own collection of textiles to sell, which I am currently working on while looking for other opportunities as a print designer. Thank you!’

You can see more of Ellen’s work at www.ellenmartintextiles.com.

Judges also commended the work of several shortlisted applicants, including Catriona Battensby, Cara Fraser, Sarah Hampson and Heather Rumble.

Sponsorship of the New Designers Associate Prize helps The Company meet its strategic objective to encourage innovation and foster talent among students and young designers – particularly those who demonstrate an advanced understanding of textile technologies and possess the ability to convert ideas into products.