This afternoon we've had a lecture with designer, Karen Nicol. Yes, it's soppy but I'd been looking forward to this lecture ever since Fiona recommended for me to purchase her book, Embellished. Karen is a former MMU grad, embroidery and mixed media artist, working with every imaginable fashion house and interior designer. Her specialisms are embroidery- using the Irish, Cornely, Multihead and hand embroidery- all of the machines that I enjoy using.
The lecture was fantastic, it was a breath of fresh air hearing about the struggles of the industry, working to deadlines and feeling completely swamped by work- a lot like how we as textiles students feel quite often. Karen explained that the textiles industry is SO vast. It is all about doing and making as much as possible, experimenting with EVERYTHING. The main key tips given to us were;
- LARGE DETAILS. When on the catwalk, small, intricate details cannot be seen so it is about experimenting and creating garments with larger embellishments. Doing embellishments larger also means it shouldn't take as long to produce the samples.
-LACE. The definition of lace is to 'add spirit to an item', what a beautiful phrase.
-KEEP GOING. Life is all about sampling. make something ten times, then analyse and change to create something better. sample, sample, sample.
-DISCIPLINE YOURSELF. Sometimes briefs have been given that are not enjoyable; manipulate and break the rules, making the brief into something that you enjoy and that inspires you. Discipline yourself to stick to rules, timetables and techniques, discipline is the key to success.
- 'DO SOMETHING QUICK THAT LOOKS EXPENSIVE'. Apparently this is the holy grail of the textiles industry. Textile designers need to work quickly, so looking at the points above and keeping it simple ends in good results.
I really feel as though when I graduate, I would like to aspire to have the same career as Karen. I would like to be able to be a freelance designer, yet have the opportunities to work with a variety of companies and practices. This way, you get to continue to learn, whilst having as much enjoyment as you possibly can.
