30 March 2011

Visiting Lecturer: Jethro Macey



















Jethro Macey is currently a Visiting Lecturer for our Surface Design pathway. Jethro runs an award-winning design practice, working to both commission and self-directed briefs. He has compiled an impressive portfolio of products and clients, these include his collaborations with The Third Nature, Decode London and clients including Urban Outfitters, Liberty, The Design Museum and Heathrow Terminal 5.
Alongside his design practice Jethro also works on a diverse spectrum of exciting ventures such as installations at Glastonbury Festival and curating exhibitions including New Designers One Year On.

http://www.jethromacey.com/

10 March 2011

Japan/Fashion talk by Akiko Fukai




















We attended the Japan/Fashion talk by Akiko Fukai at the Japan Foundation, London.


Japanese fashion has long been creating a buzz around the world with its unique form and aesthetics which provide a strong contrast to fashions in the West. The Japan Foundation invited Akiko Fukai, Director and Chief Curator of the Kyoto Costume Institute and one of Japan’s most respected fashion historians, to talk about the power of Japanese fashion and its cultural context. Tracing back to the past, she talked about the sources and aesthetics which form the foundations of Japanese fashion, illustrating where Japanese contemporary fashion has come from and what it is today.


Akiko Fukai was the leading curator of the recent Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion exhibition at Barbican Art Gallery, London.

08 March 2011

Graduate Profile: Selina Rose




























Award winning Surface Designer Selina Rose (Surface Design 2005) now works from her studio in the rural English town of Ware in Hertfordshire. Selina's signature style of bold, graphic, nature-inspired pattern and fretwork-like cut-outs along with her products' strong eco credentials have won the attention of several high profile clients including Heals and Arup. She set up her textile and surface design studio in 2005 and over the past 5 years the business has rapidly grown and expanded with clients now worldwide.

Selina's bespoke felt surfaces adorn the walls, floors and windows of luxury hotels, department stores and offices. Her latest project for global design and engineering firm Arup’s new London headquarters involved creating over 120 felt acoustic panels and felt screens. Her felt creations have gained extensive coverage from the international design press including Living etc, Grand Designs, Homes & Gardens, The Independent & Mix Future Interiors.    www.selinarose.co.uk

04 March 2011

Kate Goldsworthy talk and tutorials

















Kate Goldsworthy visited us yesterday and gave a very inspirational talk about her work and current research practice.

'Kate Goldsworthy is a textile designer and researcher, working in the area of new finishing technologies, materials R & D and design for recycling. Her passion lies with tools for sustainability in the textile world, particularly the recycling and reuse of polyesters. 
She is currently completing a practice based PhD as part of the AHRC funded project 'Ever & Again; rethinking recycled textiles' with the Textiles Environment Design research cluster based at Chelsea College of Art & Design. Her project explores technologies that could potentially change the way we recycle our textile waste, placing the designer at the centre of a process of multidisciplinary design thinking and enterprise. By focussing on the concept of 'life-cycle design', her aim is to create beautiful and functional synthetic materials, while preserving them as monomaterials, suitable for future recycling.
Kate is Course Coordinator for MA Textile Futures at Central St Martins College of Art & Design and a member of Textile Futures Research Centre.'

Kate is a Visiting Lecturer for our Surface Design pathway and she spent the day in one-to-one tutorials with our Level 6 (3rd year) Surface Design students.

http://www.kategoldsworthy.co.uk/

TED: http://textilesenvironmentdesign.blogspot.com/