Emma Lundgren, 'Future Folklore'
Since graduating from the Royal College of Art with a Masters degree in Textiles, Emma Lundgren has secured numerous awards including the Colette Prize for Spirit, is one of the Texprint 50 for 2011, exhibited internationally and has had her work featured in Dazed and Confused, Tokion and Form magazine. And if that wasn’t enough, the Swedish-born designer will be showing parts of her dazzling ‘Samilight’ collection at our ARTSTHREAD stand at DESIGNERSBLOCK. We pose a few questions to Emma in order to learn more about her work.
ARTS THREAD: When did you first become interested in textile design?
Emma Lundgren: One of my earliest memories was of my grandparents in the countryside, teaching me to knit, embroider and crochet to keep me pacified. I have had an attraction to clothes for as long as I can remember. My mum saved her clothes and her mother’s clothes over the years in a room in our house in Sweden. It was always such a treat to go into that room. The history, the material, the luxury and the function of the clothes my mum saved has always fascinated me. While I worked as a graphic assistant in Sweden, I gained experience and learned the technical side of the industry and then I realised my real love was textile design. I could express myself and communicate much better through colour, material and shapes.
AT: Has your Scandinavian upbringing had any influence on your work?
EL: Yes, it is constantly being mixed with other influences that come into my life.
'Samilight'/ 'Fixed Fashion'
AT: You’ve won many awards and accolades, do you find that you’re under a lot of pressure now to keep creating such strong, innovative designs?
EL: The biggest pressure is always from myself. This time the challenge is slightly different, as I don’t have the luxury of being in a college full of facilities.
AT: Every designer has their muse – who is yours?
EL: Bjork!
AT: Where do you see yourself ten years from now?
EL: My goal and dream is to collaborate with many other designers and companies. I have learned that I need to work in a number of design mediums to satisfy my passion for print, colour and material design. In a fantasy world people and companies would contact me for my aesthetic so that it could be applied to their products or garments.
View Emma’s ARTS THREAD portfolio.
Visit DESIGNERSBLOCK for free.
DESIGNERSBLOCK at the London Design Festival runs from September 22-25 2011 at Farmiloe Building, Clerkenwell, London website.