Students blossom with ideas for live textiles project brief

University of Wolverhampton students studying for a Textiles and Surface Pattern degree are blossoming with ideas for a live-project brief with a prestigious fashion print company based in London. 

The second-year students based in the University’s School of Art at the City Campus in Wolverhampton, were given a creative brief by ‘Her Studio London’ which produces exclusive artwork for major retailers and contemporary fashion brands around the globe, specialising in Womenswear, Activewear, Lingerie and Swim. 

The female-led print studio based in East London was launched in 2016 by two women with over 20 years’ experience in the textiles and fashion industry. The company now works with global brands including Ralph Lauren, Top Shop, Mango, ASOS, Hugo Boss, Victoria’s Secrets and Speedo. 

The team set a live brief for the students to submit ideas on the theme ‘Fabulous Florals Forever’ using flowers as inspiration for the pattern designs. 

Sharon Watts, Course Leader in Textiles and Surface Pattern at the University, said: “This live brief has presented students with an amazing opportunity to work within specific industry criteria, helping them to develop their skills in hand-rendered studio design techniques and digital skills in photoshop and illustrator. 

“Alongside enhancing their skills, students are learning about market intelligence, product specifications and commercial viability. These are key skills that we believe are important in terms of employability in the multi-faceted world of fashion and textiles. Successful designs will be showcased within the Her Studio Collection to their clients for sale in an international arena. For second year students to have an agent is a great achievement in terms of employability and a real USP for the course. 

“It’s important to have that balance between creativity and employability and the studio in London is a really good fit for our students.  The brief is for print for fashion, for dress, swim and lingerie with clear parameters and criteria.  The students are really fired up and are using traditional techniques such as painting, but also working towards product outcomes – selling their designs to some of the biggest fashion outlets around the world.” 

Ruth Price, 21 from Dudley, said: “This opportunity is amazing for the students and for the University. We have been given a fantastic chance to be involved with a live project experience which is incredibly valuable – this is something the University does really well. We are applying what we are learning, and it’s very challenging especially in terms of timescales. The most challenging part is working to somebody else’s brief to create commercial designs for dresses, swim and lingerie. I enjoy working in an illustrative way and during this project I have been using soft watercolours which have been quite challenging for me, but I have learned to produce and adapt designs to fit for commercial sales for this project. The university has been incredibly supportive with this new and challenging step forward for the students. 

“Being here has opened up a lot of doors for us and it’s been exciting to work on such an interesting project.” 

The students will be presenting their designs to Her Studio and the successful designs will be represented by the Studio who will be acting as an agent to sell the designs to global businesses. 

Follow Textiles and Surface Pattern on Instagram@wlvtextilesandsurfcepattern or email Sharon Watts on S.Watts@wlv.ac.uk for more information.

Anyone looking to study at the University of Wolverhampton should register for one of our forthcoming Open Days. 

ENDS