Tent Digital; Michael Eden, Lab Craft

September 23-26 sees Tent: London take over the Truman Brewery for its multi-faceted design show. ARTS THREAD previews the event and picks out some of the talents to visit.

Emma Jane Bloxham, Bucks New University

This was a particularly good year to see some exciting textile design at the New Designers annual showcase of graduate talent. ARTS THREAD rounds up some more of our favourites from 2010.

Nature in Design, Iceland

Nature in Design is an exhibition that takes visitors on a journey through nature objectified by Icelandic designers and offers insight into the underlying ideas behind the products. Nature in Design is a collaborative project of the Iceland Design Centre and Landsvirkjun and is open daily until 28th August 2010.

Leslie Eisinger, KABK

For the fashion and textile graduates of KABK, Royal Academy of Fine Art, The Hague, the academy’s catwalk show is not the end of the presentations. Nine days later these brand-new alumni take refuge into various locations throughout The Hague’s city centre to exhibit their collections to a wider audience. It’s a tradition the KABK has maintained for a few years and it gives the graduates an opportunity to show their work in context.

Katie Gaudion, Royal College of Art

ARTS THREAD takes a look at the future stars of the textile world from London’s Royal College of Art.

Francesca Prudente, Lauren T Franks, Ellen Chatelain, Textile Design BA(Hons) Chelsea College of Art & Design

This year music and art festival Latitude invited Chelsea College of Art & Design’s Textile Design BA(Hons) graduates to take part in a fashion show at this year’s festival taking place in Suffolk at Henham Park between Thursday 15th and Sunday 18th July.

Texprint Colour Winner Andrew Boyd, Cleveland College of Art and Design

The Texprint 2010 Awards were announced during First View, held July 15 and 16 at Chelsea College of Art & Design. A chance to see the work of both the prize winners and the 18 textile graduates finalists selected this year as the 24 to represent Texprint at Indigo Paris this September.

The Colour Award was won by Andrew Boyd of Cleveland College of Art & Design who was inspired by colourful jockey’s silks, spots, checks and stripes and ‘has a passion for screen printing simple shapes and making intricate patterns from them.’ The prize was sponsored by Patnone Europe and judged by Wakako Kishimoto of Eley Kishimoto who said: “Andrew’s work shows he has an eye for something new and knows the value of something alien.” See Andrew’s ARTS THREAD portfolio.

Trocadéro, Aimee St Hill, University of East London

I Love Paris was the theme of the 2010 silk scarf competition, in which textile designers from 19 UK universities and colleges competed for Gold, Silver and Bronze prizes. The themes included a chance to portray the quirkiness of Parisian arrondissements and differing aspects of French culture.

Unravel Exhibition, Lu Lu Zhao, Chelsea College of Art & Design

The MA Textile Design students from Chelsea College of Art & Design showcased their work-in-progress this summer, prior to their graduation show this September.

Carly Ellis, Hannah Clayton, Jessica Madden, University of Westminster

The University of Westminster staged a stellar graduate fashion show on Wednesday 2nd June at their new venue, Ambika P3. The cavernous underground space was impressively packed, as 19 strong, distinctive fashion visions were revealed in a fast-paced, exciting show.

River Island Gold Award winner, Rebecca Thomson, Manchester Metropolitan University

This year’s River Island Gold Award, which includes a £20,000 prize, went to Rebecca Thomson of Manchester Metropolitan University. From Victoriana-style blouses and bold folded dresses to pussy-bow blouses and cotton ruffles, her collection, won the judges’ favour.

Mulberry Accessories Award winner Kitty Keay, Colchester School of Art, Design & Media

The Mulberry Accessories Award went to Kitty Keay from Colchester School of Art, Design & Media and was presented by Emma Hill, Creative Director of Mulberry. Emma Hill chose the collection as it was ‘full of charm and wit – just adore those Teddy Bears! Kitty told us her collection took inspiration from Jean-Charles de Castelbajac and Moschino Cheap & Chic.

Textiles Award winner Natalie Murray, Northumbria University

The winning graduate of the Textiles Award was Natalie Murray from Northumbria University. The award was judged this year by David Saunders of David David and Orla Kiely, with a criteria to look for a graduate whose work explores the creative and inspired use of colour to achieve a distinctive fashion statement in either printed or constructed textiles. The award was presented at the GFW gala by David Saunders and Barbara Hulanicki.

Natalie’s project was based on Russian constructivism and folklore, taking inspiration from Paul Klee and design house Eley Kishimoto.

Harriet de Roeper, Nicole Bradshaw, Kingston University

ARTS THREAD has a look at ones to watch from Graduate Fashion Week 2010.

Nicole Bradshaw, Kingston University: ‘The collection is a platform for luxury and desirability. Designed for the professional urban woman who wants to look effortless and feel ultra empowering. The clothes are an investment, and can be described as second skin.’

Rebecca Thomson, Manchester Metropolitan University

River Island Gold Award winner Rebecca Thomson showcased an ethereal light and white collection with a highly sophisticated use of sheers and detailing including lace, pleating and frillls.

Robyn Egan, Arts University College Bournemouth

Robyn Egan’s collection, entitled Natural Protection, is inspired by the layers of a cocoon, where the protective layers of sterile dressings nurture soft skin. Black and white pieces feature striking asymmetry and intricate petal-like layers that extend to face-framing headwear.

Emma Philpot, Nottingham Trent University

Emma Philpot’s collection looked to dramatic knit structures in tones of grey, accented with scarlet. Shoulders and hips hand knitted-in circular structures to add volume, while a jumble of knitted shapes created a dramatic necklace.

Alice England, Liverpool John Moores University

Alice England’s muses have been Grace Jones, Pac man and the 80s digital world. Pac man sqaures work in tones of grey, white and black, while high-shine plasticised yellow, bubblegum pink and baby blue are used as tape to thread though pieces or become a plaid front to a dress.

Anna Louise Moxen, Northbrook College

Anna Louise Moxon’s collection entitled Illusional Subfocus took its inspiration from special effects seen in films, especially computer-generated imagery, 3D animation and Op-Art. Opening out like cut paper decorations, blooming on bodices or expanding to become puff-ball skirts. Layers of discs turn into a bolero jacket worn over a swirling op-art print bodysuit.

Bobby Charles Abley, Ravensbourne College of Design

Bobby Charles Abley’s strong menswear opener set the scene with neat zipped jackets, ‘speech bubble’ cartoon-bright prints, beetle crusher shoes and brightly-coloured bondage strapping.

Amber Hards, UWE Bristol

The UWE Bristol show was preceded by a short film that portrayed the lead-up to the catwalk event in a gritty, realistic format, including its industrial, and sometimes messy side – the splash of paint from screen printing, sewing and cutting machinery took on the exaggerated sound of a steelworks. Toile sessions and crits juxtaposed with the drama of backstage models.

Part exhibition, part magical mystery tour, Artangel’s latest venture is a unique and great experience. The result of collaboration between costume curator Judith Clark and psychoanalyst Adam Phillips, would be interesting in itself, but add in the opportunity to take a tour of Blythe House, the V&A’s vast archive in Kensington, and the prospect becomes irresistible.

Very Sanderson: 150 Years of English Decoration

This small but beautifully formed exhibition in London is a must see for anyone with a passion for textiles or interiors. It’s also a landmark event for the iconic Sanderson brand, who over the past 150 years have been at the forefront of British decoration and, more importantly, have lived to tell the tale.

Thirty days Acquamarine, Merel Karhof

The four, Fabien Cappello, Merel Karhof, Lucia Massari and Bethan Laura Wood have been artists in residence of the foundation for three months, living in Venice with a studio space located on the city’s Canal Grande. The aim of the three months was for the designers to create works which demonstrate their personal ideas as developed against the inspirational backdrop of Venice and its traditions. ARTS THREAD looks at the projects created by Merel Karhof.

Amber chair, Jaeuk Jang

Ivar Björkman, president of Konstfack explains the idea behind the works of young talents in the show: “The age that we are living in stretches back to the origin of human beings, irrespective of whether we are modern or not. In his book The Savage Mind, French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss explains that there are no fundamental differences in how we think between primitive peoples in the Stone Ages and ourselves nowadays”.

Craft London; The Haversham Tassel, Jessica Light

This March sees a selection of upcoming designers playing with the theme of living in London showcased at Craft Central’s new exhibition that covers jellewery, silversmithing, textiles, illustration, ceramics, interiors and even passementerie.

Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design; Greenhouse 2010

Greenhouse is Stockholm Furniture Fair’s area for independent designers and design schools. Design schools participating this year included Stockholm’s Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design and Beckmans College of Design through to northern European colleges outside of Sweden, such as Art Future Design School from Saint Petersburg and Tartu Art College (TAC) in Estonia.

Rupert Newman

One of the most impressive exhibits is by Rupert Newman. Using light sensitive inks and graphic geometric patterning, he then projects moving light and images onto a printed panel, creating mesmerising changes of and colour and mood.

Canary Wharf to Greenwich, Imogen Houldsworth; Geometrics, Mandeep Mann

Inspired by the theme of Neighbourhood Colour, 2nd year students in print, weave, knit, stitch and digital textile specialisms have worked with colour palettes and concepts to produce ideas for fabrics and product innovations through the development of colour, surface and/or texture and form. Students were asked to choose two contrasting London neighbourhoods and capture the essence of each.

Barbican, Deborah Vesey; Emily Watts

Part 1 below, see Part 2 tomorrow…

Amy Long at RugMark Rehabilitation Centre, Nepal; The Beat of the East moodboard

The 2010 competition brief is set to be announced next month and we will be posting it onto the ARTS THREAD competition section as soon as it arrives.

Lesley Robertson; Helen Carter, UEL

Although entitled Transient Praxis, the development and evolution of the work is far from transient – and forms part of the ongoing personal development of each member of staff. A symposium on the event took place on 12 November, with guest speaker Tom Klinkowstein: creative director of Media A, New York.

Return, Gerdiene van de Pol; Chitchat, Teun Flesken; A Drop of Water, Bas van der Veer

As part of Dutch Design Week, the Design Academy Eindhoven opens its doors to showcase the work of its graduates of design in both the BA and MA courses. ARTS THREAD takes a trip around the BA galleries to see what’s new.

Corita Rose, Tent London

Last week at Tent London ARTS THREAD was completely smitten with the joyful blast of colour courtesy of Corita Rose. This small company, based in Dorset, was set up in 2008 by Caroline Ritchie and showcases her textile design talent as a recent MA textiles graduate from Bath Spa University.

The Papered Parlour

ARTS THREAD was in Clapham on Saturday to check out the ‘Come across Stitch’ intervention – popping in to the Papered Parlour, for a welcome cup of tea and a rather fabulous cake.
Artist Hannah Hull was out and about creating a stir in the outdoor environment – we spotted her giant bunting adorning a building on The Pavement in near Clapham Common. With the sun shining, the cheery vibe continued inside the Papered Parlour where selected artists, illustrators and craftspeople were showing and selling their work.