Textile Design Graduate Appointed by Acclaimed British Couturier

Designer and BA(Hons) Textile Design graduate, Abi Gardener, has been appointed as British couturier, Nicholas Oakwell's embroidery designer after being responsible for many of the heavily beaded fabrics used in garments for the couture runway showing of his spring/summer collection - A Grima Fairy Tale - at Claridges Ballroom last month.

Oakwell, who started out as a milliner before turning his hand to couture, presented a collection of gowns and coats inspired by the British jeweller, Andrew Grima. In the Sixties and Seventies, Grima shook up the jewellery world with his bold, Cubist designs and each piece in Oakwell's collection was inspired by an item from his vaults.

Abi's connection with the designer started when she worked for her mother to oversee a project for Oakwell's other company ‘no uniform,' redesigning the staff uniforms for luxury apartments company ‘The Knightsbridge'.  She explained, "I worked with Nicholas to oversee the project. I then discussed my background and asked him to look through my portfolio to see if he could give me any direction and advice. He then asked me to design the embellishment for the S/S collection.

"Within that role I also was given responsibility to assist the project development, working alongside Nicholas and generally making use of myself where needed! This was really nice as I started to gain experience from a different perspective, learning to understand the bigger picture and I absolutely loved every minute of the project, drawing lots of inspiration from it."

Abi worked from home during the initial sampling stage, sending in photographs of her progress but found the working process easier when she was in the studio and experimenting with ideas and techniques. She added, "For the last 2 months running up to the show I was working in the studio full time, which I really loved doing. It gave me that sense of community that I missed from being at University College Falmouth."

Three final year BA(Hons) Textile Design students joined Abi on work placements, working backstage at The Grima Fairy Tale collection unveiling.  Reflecting on their experience each said:

"After my work experience at Nicolas Oakwell I feel I gained some brilliant experience in terms of the production process. It was so exciting to see such beautiful garments being made from the original samples and I now see a lot more value in my samples! It was very interesting to be part of such an exciting build up to a show and watching all the different areas of organising the show: the models; production; music and everything really - it was brilliant!"
Emma Castle

"The placement was more intense and challenging than I had imagined but it was so satisfying pushing your skills and seeing how much you could get done. When the clothes went down the runway it was such a sense of achievement, knowing you had helped and worked hard towards their creation."
Eleanor Kingdon

The experience will make me think differently about how I design samples and use techniques; it has opened me up to the possibilities of embellishment and how I could push ideas in my own work. I will be paying more attention to details in my work and improving the stitch quality of every piece, ensuring it is the best it can be. It has also helped to give me more of an understanding of what a target market is and who my designs are aimed at."
Kayleigh Daft

Hannah Maughan, Senior Lecturer responsible for mixed media textile design, attended the show and said, "It was such a thrill to see Abi's beautiful work in such an elegant setting. We could clearly see her influence on the collection and how she had adapted designs from her graduate portfolio. Abi has done exceptionally well to have so much of an opportunity and responsibility at such an early stage of her career. It was funny to think that this time last year she was getting anxious over her interim critical assignment and now she is holding her own in Claridge's Hotel in front of Vogue's Sarah Mower. Once again UCF have been recognised by leaders in the industry for our high creative and technical skills."

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