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© Hettie Johns 2018

TexSelect Blog

Features

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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Meet the Alumna: Irene Infantes, Print Designer

13 August 2018 by Meghna Sarkar in Alumni Stories, Features, Home, Interiors & Auto

Spanish designer Irene Infantes made a big impact with TexSelect in 2016 with her large-scale experimental and richly textured artisanal wool designs. We asked her what’s happened since then. Back in 2016, Irene Infantes, who studied Print for her Textile Design BA at Central Saint Martins, was selected for the TexSelect programme which took her to London and Paris. Her work is large scale and ambitious, exploring abstract geometric shapes, combining screen printing and needle-punch felting. It’s two years since you…

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Meet the Alumna: Pamela Print, hand-woven textile designer

5 August 2018 by Meghna Sarkar in Alumni Stories, Features, Home, Interiors & Auto

In conversation with Pamela Print, textile designer and TexSelect alumna, about her new direction designing sustainable hand-woven cushions and throws. It’s a busy day for Pamela Print (and yes, before you ask, it is her real name). The 46-year-old British textile designer is gearing up to present her collection at MADE London, the annual contemporary craft and design fair at Canary Wharf. An alumna of Central Saint Martins, with a BA in Textile Design, Pamela is currently based in Brussels….

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Meet the judges: Abigail Bomford, creative director of Camira Fabrics

15 July 2018 by Editor in Features, Home, Interiors & Auto, Sponsors, Judges & Champions

Abigail Bomford is creative director of one of the foremost West Yorkshire textile manufacturers Camira Fabrics.  She was also one of the judges of this year’s TexSelect Awards. We speak to her about creativity and working for Camira, a company that prides itself on making fabrics for spaces and places, from offices to schools, trains to buses, and shops to hospitals. In her role as creative director not only does Abigail provide the broad strategic vision for Camira’s global brand…

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TexSelect 2018: Notebook from London

8 July 2018 by Meghna Sarkar in Fashion, Features, Home, Interiors & Auto, Sponsors, Judges & Champions

The anticipation was palpable as 24 talented textile designers from across the UK prepared to showcase their work at the TexSelect London Preview (July 4-5). Highly innovative design work and mesmerizing colour and pattern, all mingled with an infectious creative energy. CLICK HERE to view designer profiles. Held in the Triangle gallery at Chelsea College of Arts, the event marked an important opportunity for the recently graduated designers to present their collections to hard-to-impress textile industry professionals. “This is my…

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Meet the Judges, Polly Leonard of Selvedge

16 June 2018 by Meghna Sarkar in Fashion, Features, Home, Interiors & Auto, Sponsors, Judges & Champions

We talk to Polly Leonard, Founder and Editor-in-chief of Selvedge Magazine, who joins the TexSelect judging panel this year. Polly Leonard, a passionate textile lover and distinguished entrepreneur, is the founder of Selvedge, a ground-breaking magazine much admired in the creative world that aims to explore our intimate relationships with cloth.With a BA in Embroidery and Weaving from the Glasgow School of Art, Polly has an addiction for textiles that morphed into a niche bi-monthly periodical in 2004. Selvedge is…

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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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