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GRADUATE CAREERS
This page features graduates who have taken a textile degree and are starting out on a Textile Based Career The information listed aims to give current or would-be students an idea of jobs open to them once they graduate. If you have recently left University and would like to be included on this page just click on the 'contact us' link in the menu above. Students are listed in alphabetical order Max Alexander
I graduated from Camberwell College of Arts in 2007 with a degree in Sculpture. Whilst at college I worked on knitted sculptures and knitted animations. After graduating I exhibited knitted artworks at a number of venues in London including the Affordable Art Fair where I ran a workshop on knitting blood and eyeballs.I am currently running a handmade jewellery business specialising in knitting themed jewellery and accessories as well as working on new sculptures and animations. This Summer I am working on a game with lots of knitted features for the V&A Village fete with a fellow Sculpture graduate Isabel Vince. Click here to contact Max Click here for Max's website Eleanor Amoroso
I graduated from University of Westminster in Summer 2010, where I studied fashion design but have always been preoccupied with textiles and knits. For my graduate collection I used long lengths of fringing which I knotted together using macrame techniques to create 'knitwear' pieces. Each piece is made completely by hand using macrame techniques. Click here to contact Eleanor Click here for Eleanor's website Claire Andrew
Graduated 2011 with first class honours. Graduate (AW11) collection sponsored by Rowan wools. Returned to study fashion to follow a love of design and also completed internship with Giles, London (in preparation for the SS10 Paris show) and assisted Stylist Emma Pritchard in New York. Work is often inspired by nature and love how knit can almost develop in an organic way to create pieces that look grown rather than made. Currently working towards own label and hope to show at London Fashion Week in the near future. Would also like to work freelance for trend prediction agencies and work on catwalk showpieces for other design houses. Click here to contact Claire Click here for website Victoria Bulmer
Currently in Orkney on placement with Tait and Style -and absolutely loving it! Victoria is designing a new collection for Tait and Style. Tait and Style are in the middle of a studio move, but hope to have a new collection designed by the end of the year. Victoria has also exhibited her work recently and intends to apply for the Royal college of Art as she would like to progress her work a lot more and take it into fashion. Click to contact Victoria
Kandy Diamond
Finalist, Knitted Student Textile Awards 2006: Graduated from The University of Manchester 2006 Set up my own label 'Knit and Destroy' in October 2006 I run my own small business, designing and making a wide range of knitted accessories and home wares. I'm currently supplying to a variety of shops in the UK, Europe and USA. My custom knits include: Lady Luck Rules OK, (London based jewellery brand, November 2007 - Present), Lazy Oaf, scarf and other commission designs (2007 - 2008), 'Pimp my pumps', commissioned knitted pumps for touring exhibition (September 2007), Superette shop window display, knitted props (July & December 2007) I have been lecturing in knitted textiles at The University of Manchester since September 08. I also took workshops in 3D manipulated textiles, machine knitting and crochet to final year BTEC fashion students at Chesterfield College from March-May 2007. I am hoping to study an MA in textiles in order to further my knowledge of knitwear for fashion and am looking to branch out into making garments under my label 'Knit and Destroy'. Click here to contact Kandy Click for website Mandi Dikki
Finalist, Clothes Show Live Young Knitwear Designer of the Year 2010: Graduated from the University of Derby 2012 My degree was in Fashion studies but after becoming a finalist I focused on knitwear. Handknitting interested me more than machine knitting because 3 dimensional shapes looked better handknitted. My graduate collection is called Elizabethan jewels because I took inspiration from the colours, jewellery shapes and decorative details in the film ‘Elizabeth: The Golden Age’. Something I do a lot is knitted chains. This started off when I broke one of my favourite necklaces. While looking for a missing piece I noticed the various sizes of links that were used to make the necklace. Click here to contact Mandi Click here for website Young Ju Do
Finalist, Knitted Student Textile Awards 2008: Graduated from Central St Martins, London 2008 Young Ju is working as an intern for Celine in the knitwear department Click to contact Young Ju Alison Firth
Alison graduated from Bucks New University with a Degree in Knitted Textile Design which then lead her to study an MA in Fashion at Kingston University. She has exhibited her BA collection during New Designers in London and Indigo, Paris. Alison's MA collection was onthe Catwalk during London Fashion Week at Vauxhall Fashion Week and Tent London. Currently and throughout her two degrees she also worked for a London Based Knit Studio, Sidney Bryan, working on Statement Catwalk Pieces for London, Paris and Milan Fashion Weeks. Alison is currently the Senior Knit Technician at Bucks New University and runs Hand Knit and Crochet Workshops at 'Make M'e in Cobham. She also Freelances for an Knit agency and is working towards a new collection. Click here to contact Alison Click for Alison's fashion blog
Finalist Pringle visionary knitwear award 2008. Selected for the final Gala Show and entered for the Gold award at Graduate fashion week 2008: Graduated from De Montfort, Leicester 2008 Currently working for Felder Felder's Spring/Summer '09 and for De Montfort university in an ethical knitting project. Jennifer is has worked for Mark Fast and Acorn Conceptual textiles (Summer 2009), and is now running her own knitwear business Click here to contact Jennifer Click here for Jennifer's website Kate Jenkins
Kate graduated in 1995 from University of Brighton with a BA Hons degree in Fashion/Textiles with business studies. Brighton-based knitwear company Cardigan was set up by Kate Jenkins in 2003 to fulfil her philosophy that anything can be created from yarn as long as it is made with love. With a strong emphasis on colour and innovative witty details, Cardigan has become synonymous with the creation of beautiful knitted and crocheted fashion and art. Before founding Cardigan, Kate spent time working with some of the world's most prestigious fashion designers including Marc Jcobs, Donna Karan, Missoni and Sonia Rykiel. In 2007 Kate created an exhibition called 'comfort food' which featured series of crocheted plates of food raging from fish and chips to patisserie cakes. Since then the art has gone from strength to strength. 2008 saw Kate create a knitted and crocheted garden entitled 'Cardigan in Bloom' this led to her being asked by LIberty of London to create an exhibition of box framed insects which was displayed in their store during the summer. Kate's work is now represented by The Rebecca Hossack Gallery her work has been shown at art fairs in New York, London, Paris, Toronto and Amsterdam. This year saw Kate have her fist solo show of her work, her exhibition entitled "Kate's Cafe' where she turned the gallery into a fantasy cafe where everything was made out of yarn. Kate has been working on various projects over the past year and continues to promote her label 'Cardigan'. Click here to contact Kate Click for kate's website Emma Kasyan
Finalist, Knitted Student Textile Awards 2008: Graduated from Central St Martins, London 2008 Emma has an internship in Stella McCartney's studio knitting department Click to contact Emma Susie Johns
Having studied Fine Art at the Slade
School, Susie worked as a magazine and partworks editor for 11
years before going freelance in 1996. Since then, as well as her
magazine work, she has written and illustrated books on a variety
of creative subjects, including knitting and crochet. Titles include
Crochet for Beginners (Carroll & Brown, 2006), Street Chic
Jewellery (New Holland, 2008), Colourwork Stitches (Harmony Guides,
2009), Knitted Flowers (Search Press, 2009) and The Felted Bag
Book (New Holland, Click here to contact Susie Click to see more of Susie's work Ode Marie
I completed a BTS Textile Design at the E.N.S.A.A.M.A, Olivier de Serres in Paris in 2005. After graduating from E.N.S.A.A.M.A, I enrolled at the Central Saint Martins collage in London to do a BA in Textile design and specialised in knitting. This experience both improved my knowledge of textiles and enabled me to meet people from all around the world; expanding my interests and discovering different cultures. I am originally from France and grew up in the countryside of Normandy. Ever since I was little I have been interested in the different handicraft processes and at 15 years old I began to study Applied Arts. Discovering textiles in Paris was a revelation: my interest in the manipulation of materials, colour and drawing could all be translated in this medium. I am currently working on my own project to try to produce my own brand and style. Ideally, I would like to collaborate with companies to produce my own knitted objects. I am also interested in designing for childrenswear and trends forecasting. Click here to contact Ode Marie Click for Ode Marie's blog Rachel Massey
Rachel graduated in 2007 from Nottingham Trent with a degree in Fashion Knitwear Design and Knitted Textiles. She has been a freelance knitwear designer, hand knitting her own designs since November 2007 and has also worked as a swatch knitter and knitting tutor. Although her degree collection was based around chunky, luxurious hand knits, she also specialises in producing childrenswear in natural fibres. Click here to contact Rachel Click for Rachel's website Mimi Milburn
Finalist, Knitted Student Textile Awards 2008: Graduated from Central St Martins, London 2008 Now working in Costume design for the stage, and also working in general wardrobe/styling for short films and photographic shoots. Mimi is also planning more exhibitions around the south and west of England. Click here to contact Mimi Claire Montgomerie
Graduated in Constructed Textiles MA at the Royal College of Art, London in 2004 Since graduating in 2004, Claire has been designing her own eclectic range of hand made accessories, toys and garments under the name of Monty. She likes to keep her hands busy and so is also constantly working on many different projects, such as making puppets for music videos, designing patterns for craft books and magazines and teaching textiles at many different levels. She also tries to satisfy her yarn cravings by working one day a week in the London yarn shop, Loop. Claire has three published books: Easy Baby Knits and Easy Kids Knits (Ryland, Peters and Small), collections of simple yet beautiful children's clothing for beginners and improvers and Yarn Palette (Readers Digest), an experimental pattern book which concentrates on playing with colour and texture. Click here to contact Claire Click here to view more of Claire's work Kristen Orme
Finalist, Knitted Student Textile Awards 2011: Graduated from Heriot-Watt University with an MA in Knitted Textile Design 2011 Click here to contact Kristen Kari-Helene Rane
After graduating from Kingston University,
London in 2005, and being a finalist in the Knitted Textile competition
I worked as a freelance Currently I am launching a company with two business partners who found me via the ukhandknitting.com website! Purl Alpaca Designs had its launch at the Alexandra Palace Knitting and Stitching show October 2008. Click here for website Noriko Sawano
Winner of the Hand Knit/Crochet category in the Knitted Student Textile Awards 2008: Graduated from Central St Martins, London, 2008 Noriko had her winning design featured in the 2009 Spring issue of American Vogue. She is going to work as a Freelance knitwear designer for fashion, but is also happy to make knitwear for contemporary costume and fine art. Update for 2010: Noriko has been making all the knitted items for Gareth Pugh's Summer and Autumn 2010 collections Click to contact Noriko Hannah Slegg
Graduated from De Montfort, Leicester 2010 " I achieved a Bradford Textile Societycommendation award in my first year of University, for my diverse use of colour in both a knitted and woven fabric. I also won the prestigious Peshall Hirst Bursary Award from the Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters. The bursary aided my dissertation and design projects, providing expenses to pay for materials. I also won the Roadley award in January 2010. This award went towards developing my final major work and enabled me to collaborate with a company who have pleated my fine gauge knitwear and created stunning pieces of fabric. I have also worked with the leading knitwear company Smedleys in Derbyshire, on an innovation and environmental project. Since graduating I have applied for many internships and jobs through online agencies and contacting designers directly. I decided that after University I would do a Masters Degree, and have chosen to apply for MA Fashion Bodywear at DMU. I wanted to study more to do with knitwear and so I took on a 3-month intensive full-time knitting design course at Knit-1. I choose to do this to bridge the gap between textiles and knitted garments, where I have learned to combine both exploring a whole range of techniques and applying my technical knowledge. I aim to develop my garment construction work through both and to increase my personal development of ideas into stunning garment ideas learning new techniques such as modern stripes, impactive jacquards, cables, pointelle, fashioning, body contours, contemporary crochets, intarsia, and fairisle. Studying in a professional studio environment gave me an insight into the working industry pushing myself to thrive within my passion. My design experience and level of knowledge has improved greatly. I have also started making and designing accessories from home and selling them, using the new skils I have learnt since graduating." Click to contact Hannah Sally Spinks
Sally Spinks graduated with a Masters in Fine Art from Goldsmith's, London in 2008 She works mainly with textiles including hand and machine knitting. She has an interest in how issues of control and consumerism impact on the changing nature of the class system and her work explores areas where these intersect with home, identity and a sense of belonging to both our past and future. Using predominately domestic materials she produces either installation works or sculptural pieces. Since graduating Sally has exhibited in the UK and the US and continues to develop her artistic practice in both knitting and other textile medium. Like many other knitting enthusiasts, she was taught to knit at an early age by her mother and has a sister and aunt who are just as passionate about the craft. Along with them she has also knitted garments for use in major feature films as well as working with fashion designers. After over 20 years working in media organisations, Sally returned to full-time education to undertake a Masters in Fine Art at Goldsmiths College. Previously Sally had been the Head of Learning Design at the BBC and it was whilst at the BBC she completed a Masters in Management Learning in 2000. She still works as a consultant in the field of learning design for several corporate clients, particularly in the areas of creativity, leadership development and executive coaching. She also designs knitted textiles and knits garments for use in major feature films. Click here to contact Sally Click to view more of Sally's work Jemma Sykes
Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2003, I've been working as a freelance knitted textile designer. In 2003 I won the Texprint Prize
for Knit, and in 2004 I was awarded the Crafts Councils Development
Award. I design personal collections to sell, and collaborate
developing fabrics specifically for fashion houses, past clients
include Alexander Mcqueen and Michiko Koshino in London, Lanvin,
Givenchy and Emanuel Ungaro in Paris, Fuzzi and Etro in Italy.
I have also produced garments for Givenchys Haute Couture collections
and worked with Michiko Koshino on numerous showpieces. Updates for 2008 include further teaching at The Royal College of Art and Central St Martins, new clients include Julien Macdonald and Biba (garments for their fashion shows) also my work has been displayed in the windows of Harrods and Selfridges/London and recently Sheffield Millennium galleries commisioned a piece for "Get Knitted". Click here for more information about Jemma's work Click here to contact Jemma Patimarkorn Tangsakul
Since
graduating from Buckinghamshire New University in Textiles and
Surface Design in 2009, I have been working as Freelance knitwear
designer for Zinc Design Ltd in London. Click here to contact Patimarkorn Donna Wilson
Donna studied Design and Craft at Gray's school of Art in Aberdeen, Scotland before gaining an MA in mixed Media and Constructed Textiles at The Royal College of Art, London. She graduated in 2003. Whilst studying Wilson began creating and selling her creatures and after graduating, set up her studio, which now produces hand-made products for sale in independent design shops in over 15 countries.Donna Wilson's Studio prides itself on keeping the production hand made and UK based allowing the end product to be unique and have its very own character. As with all of Wilson's studio work, the productive relationship between designer and activity where the handmade is a creative necessity. Donna is delighted to announce the launch of her new designs at the Milan Salone Internazionale del Mobile 2009. Donna has worked with SCP for the past 3 years, and this year she has designed a sofa, chair, knitted pouf's as well as a range traditionally woven Welsh blankets and cushions. This year is already proving to be an exciting year, with her first major solo show at the Lighthouse in Glasgow. For 'escape to the woods' she designed a brightly coloured menagerie of creatures and houses surrounded by an enchanted knitted forest. The show will be hosted by a selection of galleries this summer. Donna Wilson is one of Scotland's most notable young textile designers, as well as her infamous knitted creatures, recently spotted in Jamie Theakston's home feature in this months Living etc, Donna has developed a range of melamine trays, luxurious lambswool throws, and a set of three decorated glasses Click here to view more of Donna's work Click to contact Donna Jonie Worton
Jonie Worton completed a BA (hons) Degree in Design Crafts with University Campus Suffolk in Lowestoft where she found her love for all things textile, particularly knit. Whilst studying for her BA Jonie was awarded a 1st prize at the Bradford Textile Society Competition in the first year of study, followed by a Commendation in both the second and third year. Once the BA was completed in 2011 Jonie continued her education, moving to Nottingham, to attend Nottingham Trent University and study for a MA in Fashion Knitwear Design. The Masters research centered around the travel inspiration from Tokyo, Japan as part of the Paul Smith Scholarship where she spent eight weeks on an extensive research trip. The imagery from her time there generated the idea of adaptable clothing inspired by the proud Japanese workmen. The male knitwear was designed around the humble jumper, reworking the sleeves with sponsored zips from Jones & Co of Nottingham and brightly colored yarns of wool and cotton sponsored by Novetex Textiles Ltd of Hong Kong. The sustainable design element of changing the sleeves also manipulated the quote written on the garment. Jonie is currently working on building the business of Bob & John, designing new knitwear and accessories. Click here for website Click here to contact Jonie Andrew Yates
Andrew graduated from Central Saint Martins in Knitwear Design in 2009. Since Summer 2009 I've freelanced for various clients. I'm now working on a full time basis for Mark Fast as a Design Assistant, plus I'm freelancing for a new hand knit label in Australia called Adettes which supplies high end designer knitwear in kits to knit yourself. Click here to view more of Andrew's work Click to contact Andrew
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