Gemstones and Royal Gardens Drive Designers' Imaginations
4 June 2012
Final year Textile Design student Jessica Reynolds was inspired by a book on Buckingham Palace Gardens.
The Textile Design students have produced a highly professional body of work for the annual Degree Shows for the public to see.
”Kay Bolderson, University Joint Programme Leader for Textile Design.
Student Faye Currie's designs (modelled above) have seen her make the finals of the 2012 Midlands Fashion Designer Awards.
Buckingham Palace Gardens and crystals are among the unusual influences on work being displayed by University of Derby Textile Design students at its 2012 Degree Shows.
Free public exhibitions of final year students' work are currently being staged in the University's annual Degree Shows, at its Markeaton Street and Britannia Mill sites in Derby, until June 12. Students from visual communications, creative expressive therapies, film, photography, fashion, product design, architecture, fine art and many other courses contribute to it.
Just in time for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, Textile Design student Jessica Reynolds was inspired by a book on Buckingham Palace Gardens in the 1950s for her range of interior fabrics for the home.
Jessica, 21, originally of Shirebrook, Mansfield, said: "The book described Buckingham Palace Gardens as an 'oasis' in the middle of urban London, which got me thinking about the way people use fabrics to create an oasis in their own homes.
"I looked at the precise geometric patterns used at the Gardens, and also at places such as Chatsworth House and Kew Gardens, and adapted them for my fabrics. The colours of dark grey, beige, sage green and peach I took from an old photo of the Queen pictured at Windsor Castle in the 1950s."
Jessica's skill with knitted and woven fabrics has won her four prizes this year including a £1,000 scholarship from the Worshipful Company of Weavers and a further £800 for scooping First, Second and Third Prize in the same category of 'Furnishing Fabric Design' at the annual Bradford Textile Society Design Competition.
In total, 11 University of Derby Textile Design students scooped prizes, commendations and scholarship awards at the prestigious national contest held in Bradford.
Jessica will also shortly be taking up a week's work placement with Johnstons of Elgin, northern Scotland, which has been producing fine cashmere and woollen clothes and fabrics since 1797.
"It's a very traditional place, very 'hands on', which is the thing I've liked about doing my degree course at the University," added Jessica.
Among the other Textile Design student works set to impress visitors to this year's Degree Shows are those by Faye Currie and Rakhee Mehta.
Faye, 23, originally from Southport, Merseyside, is a print specialist whose designs have been inspired by 1950s swimwear and Art Deco glamour. She has produced a stunning collection of silks, patterned using a digital printer and encrusted with Swarovski Crystals, suitable for evening wear. She is a finalist in the 'Emerging Designer of the Year' category of the 2012 Midlands Fashion Designer Awards, the winners of which will be announced in October (2012).
The silk and silk velvet designs of student Rakhee, 20, of Hall Green, Birmingham, so impressed the specialist digital print company in Birmingham which helped produce them, it asked if it could use her images on the company's website home page.
Kay Bolderson, Joint Programme Leader for Textile Design at the University of Derby, said: "As usual, the Textile Design students have produced a highly professional body of work for the annual Degree Shows for the public to see.
"I'm delighted with their progress and their achievements at this year's Bradford Textile Society Design Competition."
For more information about the whole programme for the University of Derby's 2012 Degree Shows - this year entitled 'Odyssey' - see website www.derby.ac.uk/degreeshow
For more information please contact Press & PR Officer Sean Kirby on 01332 591891 or 07876 476103, or email s.kirby@derby.ac.uk
