Stanningley-based fabric manufacturer and woollen mill Hainsworth has teamed up with final-year tailoring students at London College of Fashion to create a unique jacquard cloth design.
Hainsworth tasked students from London College of Fashion’s BA (Hons) Bespoke Tailoring course with creating a custom cloth, with the winning designers invited to weave and finish their fabric at the heritage textile mill.
Course leader Daniel Poulson said: “Providing our students with the opportunity to design and execute a fully bespoke jacquard weave in partnership with the Hainsworth team is a unique and valuable experience.
Seeing their ideas come to life at the mill, from fibre to finished product, has been rewarding for all involved. I am grateful for the investment and exchange of knowledge and expertise throughout this creative process.”
The winning students, Anna Zhou, Anastasia Inozemtseva, and Matilda Jonathan, were selected for demonstrating originality, quality craftsmanship, and sustainability. The three students visited the Hainsworth Mill in Yorkshire to see their designs woven on Jacquard looms, ready to transform into expertly tailored garments. These garments formed part of their graduate showcase presentation at Protein Studios in Shoreditch.
Andrea Noble, Design and Product Development Manager at Hainsworth, added: “The students were once again very engaged, professional, and clearly ambitious for a career in tailoring.
“I enjoyed discussing their creative concepts for their final collections, enabling them to find ways to develop artwork appropriate for jacquard patterning, which expressed and embodied their final collections.”
The 2024 Bespoke Jacquard Project was also shortlisted for the University of the Arts London’s Knowledge Exchange Awards, which recognise collaborations with external partners to create positive change through real-life challenges designed to co-create value for society, the economy and the environment.