Nurturing the next generation, the Green Grads Hub was held at Heals, London, in mid-September 2023. This was the third year for a project that relies solely on the generous donations from the industry. Professionals involved take no fees and incur minimal expenses.
Sponsors this year included, among others, Designers Guild, Anglepoise, FESPA, Epson, Chelsea Design Centre, Heals, Ercol, Neptune, ImageCo, and Benchmark. The project runs consistently throughout the year, holding pop-up workshops and events. And in doing so, it showcases talent while also facilitating networking opportunities alongside commercial partnerships for graduates.
The platform was founded by Barbara Chandler and Michael Czerwinski, with support from me in my role as FESPA Textile Ambassador, who joined as a consultant for Textile Design, Technology, and Sustainability.
Green Grads celebrates emerging talent from across the country and focuses on environmental balance and sustainability. Championing innovation, new ideas, and concepts that encourage and deliver environmental change, Green Grads 2023 brought together a cohort of 55+ new UK graduates, across multiple product disciplines, with ideas to heal the planet. The event was held over three days in the beautifully refurbished third floor of the Heal’s Building, where Green Grads installed a theater for a series of engrossing events which included awards, speeches, and discussions.
This year’s winner of the ECO STORIES, Epson Design Challenge, for patterns/fabrics that nurture the environment, was won by talented graduate Becky Brentnall and her “The Garden That Inspired” printed textile collection, winning a cash prize of £350.
Becky Brentnall and her “The Garden That Inspired” printed textile collection. BA Surface Pattern and Textile Design, Staffordshire University @becky_designs.uk.
Becky’s childhood garden inspired in her a lifelong passion for nature and in particular for flowers grown in the UK. This now finds expression in dramatically large-scale textiles, up to four meters in length. These are hand-painted and screen-printed onto natural fabrics using manutex, a seaweed-based thickener that makes reactive dyes into a print or paint paste. Before returning to her studies, Becky trained and worked as a landscape gardener and a florist.
“My work celebrates and promotes nature on a large scale, and I want it to enrich home and business interiors,” Becky commented.
Becky’s final collection celebrates nature and her love of print. As a mature student, she now seeks a career in design and print and is looking to expand her design practice to found her own studio alongside building her own brand using digital printing technologies to replicate her original works as interior décor products and accessories.
Joint winner of the ECO STORIES, Epson Design Challenge, for patterns/fabrics that nurture the environment with a generous prize of an Epson F100 printer, was Zaynah Arif’s Lepidoptera.
Zayna’s beautiful hand-painted artwork carries a strong message. With numbers of butterflies and moths declining, Zayna is adorning stationery, coordinating wrapping paper and giftware, together with unique reversible appliqué bags, with images that call attention to their plight.
“We must campaign to save all the pollinators in the same way as we have campaigned to save the bees,” Zayna stated.
Zayna explained how she would love to create a collection that would aid Butterfly Conservation, gifting them all the proceeds. In the meantime, her drawing and painting continue and with, an Epson F100 printer as a prize, we look forward to watching her brand blossom in tune with her environmental objectives.
BA Textiles and Surface Design, University of Bolton @zaynaharif_designs
Also worthy of note, and perhaps as a nod to the future of textile ink innovations, were Annelise Payne and Chloe Benham.
Annelise Payne, Winner of the Textile Innovation Award for “Primordial Pigments”
Enthused by the Arts & Crafts movement, Annelise sourced bacteria from soil and water around the original William Morris textile workshop in Merton Mills and developed a “fully microbial” color palette. She then traditionally block-printed a Morris-inspired design onto fabric, but replaced conventional dyes with pigment-producing bacteria.
“This process gives equal agency to living organisms, letting the bacteria grow and develop over time to reveal colors and patterns on the fabric.” She added: “William Morris took inspiration from the many flora and fauna that surrounded him. He advocated for the preservation of traditional craft practices and the use of natural materials in defiance of the Industrial Revolution (in 2023 we equally reject mass manufacture in favor of on-demand manufacturing). I’m taking his ideas into the 21st century.
“Bacterial pigments grow independent of season, and need no chemicals or land and very little water. They could provide a more regenerative solution to color and dye within the textile industry,” Annalise explained.
Previous projects by this designer, who comes from Salt Lake City, Utah, focused on kelp, mycelium, and wool.
MA Material Futures, Central Saint Martins, UAL @annelisepayne
Chloe Benham Presented “Microbial Hues”
Chloe has explored ways in which “living” color systems using bacteria could provide a circular alternative to petrochemical dyes. Concentrating on the aesthetics, she successfully developed a new printing technique mixing bacteria and plant dyes. “We have a responsibility as designers to challenge the norm.”
MA Textiles, Royal College of Art @chloebenham
Elena Branch: “Art in Action”
It was also rewarding to meet up with artist Elena Branch again, one year on. Elena was showcasing her growing design brand. As a 2022 Green Grad, her design practice and product collection has flourished into a small, artisan business.
Elena Branch takes action against the climate crisis with a portfolio of bold art prints, cards, and fabrics inspired by Russian Constructivism. Her strong motifs, confidently expressed in striking abstractions, speak eloquently of environmental perils such melting ice caps, plastic pollution, and bleached coral reefs. The Climate Collection is a new range coordinating heavy weight cottons for upholstery and curtains, which are GOTS and OEKO-TEX certified for both fabric and ink (£65 a meter). They have been upholstered onto a rescued chair by London upcycling experts Urban Upholstery. “I’m using illustration and prints to raise vital awareness of the current climate crisis,” she said. Tea towels and cushions are also available.
BA Textile Design with Business Studies, University of Brighton @elenadrewthis in partnership with @urban_upholstery_ltd
Frieda Bischoff and Vassi Deij: “Renee Materials”
Finally, it was a pleasure to meet Frieda Biscoff and the founding team of Renee Materials who are transforming resale and distribution to repurpose waste.
“On a planet with diminishing resources, we need radically to change the way we source and dispose of materials. Companies and businesses account for 28% of London’s waste—and more than 60% of what is thrown away is reusable. At the same time, UK art and design students could be spending as much as £400 on materials for a project.”
Renee has set up a digital marketplace that connects companies’ leftover waste with art and design students, creatives, and makers who need supplies.
“We save emissions twice. First, we cut waste, and then we cut the use of new materials. At the same time, we ease the costs for creatives, who typically reduce what they have to spend on high-quality materials by half.”
MA Design for Social Innovation and Sustainable Futures, London College of Communication, UAL; www.reneematerials.co.uk @renee_materials
Green Grads once again spotlights a new generation, one that is determined to make a significant impact on how we design, create, and repurpose the products we consume to better the environment.
Thank you to all that supported this initiative, without which Green Grads wouldn’t be possible. I’d also like to personally thank all the industry professionals and peers that gifted their time, expertise, and knowledge.
(All images courtesy of Texintel.)
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