Insights & Inspiration

© Hettie Johns 2018

TexSelect Blog

Features

TexSelect to Close after 50th Anniversary Year

9 May 2019 by TexSelect in Features, Press Releases, TexSelect News

TexSelect honorary chairman Barbara Kennington explains why this is the last year of TexSelect – after 50 years of supporting young textile design talent. Over 50 years, TexSelect (previously called Texprint) has interviewed more than 10,000 young textile designers and supported more than 1,250 of them to develop their careers and launch into the industry. For a charity entirely reliant on generous sponsors, it’s an achievement of which we are very proud. But as the industry changes and sponsorship budgets…

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Meet the Alumna: Francesca Colussi

6 March 2019 by Roger Tredre in Alumni Stories, Features

Textile artist Francesca Colussi, a TexSelect alumna from 2011, talks about her unusual work transforming vintage postcards with embroidery. It’s a vintage black-and-white postcard of a country lane and a thatched cottage. But this idyllic view is bursting with embroidered colour: a pink tree, a yellow rooftop, a violet floral explosion. Something old has been transformed into something new, a vintage treasure given a thoroughly modern twist. Idyllic Life / 2019 Francesca Colussi, who was a TexSelect designer back in…

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Meet the Alumna: Pepe Lowe

9 December 2018 by Editor in Alumni Stories, Fashion, Features

Pepe Lowe, a TexSelect alumna from 2013, explains how her career has evolved over the last five years, including the launch of her own collection of classic silk womenswear. Back in the summer of 2013 I was just finishing my BA in Textile Design at Chelsea College of Arts. It was such a great surprise to be chosen for TexSelect, then called Texprint. They really showed me the options that were open to me in the commercial fashion and textile…

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Meet the Alumnus: Rupert Newman, Light Artist

29 October 2018 by TexSelect in Alumni Stories, Features, Home, Interiors & Auto

Rupert Newman has been the go-to light installation artist for luxury weddings in the south of France this past summer. We found out more about what the TexSelect alumnus is up to. The Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild is a splendid seaside villa at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat on the French Riviera. Built between 1905 and 1912 by Baroness Béatrice de Rothschild, it sums up all the grandeur of the Cote d’Azur. And this year it’s been a regular haunt for TexSelect alumnus Rupert…

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Matthew Briggs: Winner of The Woolmark Company TexSelect Award

8 October 2018 by TexSelect in Alumni Stories, Fashion, Features, Sponsors, Judges & Champions

Boldly patterned and graphic knits by Matthew Briggs delighted the judges and won him The Woolmark Company TexSelect Award in Paris, which set him on the road to Shanghai. Young designer Matthew Briggs, who studied knitwear design at the Royal College of Art, was a big winner at the TexSelect award ceremony on September 20 during Première Vision Paris, snapping up the TexSelect Fashion Prize, the WGSN TexSelect Textiles of the Future Award, and the prestigious The Woolmark Company TexSelect…

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TexSelect 2018: Notebook from Paris

22 September 2018 by Meghna Sarkar in Fashion, Features, Home, Interiors & Auto, Sponsors, Judges & Champions

Best of British textile talent came to the fore at Première Vision Paris, 19-21 September. Let’s take a quick look behind the scenes. Twenty four young designers, three days of excitement, nervousness and upheaval and a once in a lifetime opportunity to communicate with the biggest names of the textile industry. For the talented textile stars of 2018, the TexSelect showcase at Première Vision Designs was the highlight of their career so far. “It’s such a huge opportunity,” said Grace…

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Social Media’s Marketing Potential: we talk with alumna Emma J Shipley

16 September 2018 by Meghna Sarkar in Alumni Stories, Fashion, Features, Home, Interiors & Auto

How can designers use social media to promote themselves and their work? Emma Shipley, graphic artist and TexSelect alumna, shares her story. Social media, a brilliant tool for self-promotion, is proving a marketing lifeline for many emerging designers and creatives. One click is all it takes to share your creativity with the world – and Emma Shipley, a TexSelect alumna and 31-year-old British graphic artist and designer, is doing exactly that. She’s admired by her 12.8k Instagram followers for her…

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Meet the Judges: The Woolmark Company TexSelect Award

10 September 2018 by Editor in Fashion, Features, Sponsors, Judges & Champions

Natasha Lenart of Victoria Beckham and Eda Karadogan of Ipekis are judging this year’s The Woolmark Company TexSelect Award. It’s one of the highlights of the TexSelect calendar – the judging and presentation of The Woolmark Company TexSelect Award in Paris at Première Vision Designs. The Woolmark Company has supported TexSelect since the charity was founded more than 40 years ago, with the Award established in 2011. It recognises design excellence in fabrics created with 60% or more Merino wool,…

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Meet the Sponsor: Debbie Buchan, AVACadCam Group Ltd

2 September 2018 by Editor in Fashion, Features, Home, Interiors & Auto, Sponsors, Judges & Champions

TexSelect has worked with the AVACadCam Group for three years now.  AVA supports financially, for which the not-for-profit organisation is most grateful, and by generously running one of their 5-day software courses each summer for a hand picked group of TexSelect designers at AVA’s HQ in Macclesfield, Cheshire. The 2018 designers selected were Cassie McDonald, Eve Campbell, Beth Porter, Sam Wilde, Florence Yexley, and also Hayley Chapman (who will do the course after Première Vision Designs). Of the experience, Cassie…

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Meet the judges : Helen Palmer, director of textiles, materials & knitwear at WGSN

22 August 2018 by Meghna Sarkar in Fashion, Features, Sponsors, Judges & Champions

Helen Palmer has worked in the textile industry for more than two decades and almost half of that with WGSN, the celebrated trend forecasting and analytics company. Earlier this year Helen agreed to be one of TexSelect’s 2018 judges, working with a panel of fellow experts to decide which of the 24 talented designers should be shortlisted for the 2018 TexSelect Fashion, Interiors, Colour and Pattern Prizes. Currently the director of textiles, materials & knitwear at WGSN, Helen initially studied…

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TexSelect is a registered charity, entirely funded by the generous sponsorship of industry, by British charitable foundations, and by individuals connected to the industry. All believe wholeheartedly in supporting the next generation of textile design talent and in encouraging innovation and excellence.

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