Texprint – Making the Best Connections around the World

 

Texprint’s strong connections around the world enable its designers to network at the highest levels of the textile industry.  This authoritative industry network filters through every aspect of Texprint’s programme. Last October the 25 talented Texprint designers met with Nathan Jenden of Diane von Furstenberg whilst showing at Indigo in Paris. Nathan presented Texprint’s special prize winners with their awards. The prize winners were selected during Texprint’s First View exhibition in London by a panel of five expert judges, including Sandy Verdon, Head of Design at Jaeger, Mark Eley of Eley Kishimoto, Beppe Pisani of Serikos SpA, textile designer Celia Birtwell and Silvie Tastemain, Fashion Director of Expofil.

 

 

Texprint’s supporters and major sponsors also feature amongst the world’s top fashion brands.  In addition to Jaeger and Diane von Furstenberg, you can find Burberry, Liberty and Marks & Spencer amongst Texprint’s impressive list of partners.  Texprint is a not for profit organisation that has access to plenty of in house talent.  The Texprint team includes Chairman is Julius Schofield and its Design Director is Peter Ring-Lefevre.  Christian Dewar Durie is in charge of fundraising and public relations for Texprint.  “It is easy to arouse interest in the work of Texprint,” says Christian, “but it is much harder work to find the funding that is required to make the selections, to bring the designers to the right place and promote them to the best international audience, to make them easily accessible.”

 

 

Texprint is constantly introducing and updating with new elements for its programme, such as the Preview evening in London and the alumni showcase during First View 2005.  2006 will also see updates to ensure that Texprint stays as relevant for textile design now as it was when it started 35 years ago.  Texprint’s recruitment programme for 2006 will be starting soon and will be sharing a stand with BWTEC at the exhibition where Texprint alumni make up 15% of the British designers taking part in Indigo.

 

The Texprint Team…

 

JULIUS SCHOFIELD

 

Julius Schofield’s love affair with textiles started in the heady days of the fashion revolution caused by Mary Quant’s insistence that daughters no longer had to imitate the fashion of their mothers.

 

At the time he was in charge of Courtaulds’ multi million advertising budget and was learning how to entice the right fashion labels and designers to endorse the yarns and fibres, and the fabrics that were made from them.

 

This led to an offer by IPC – then the world’s largest publishing group – to create an independent fashion promotion unit with its own glossy professional publication called Trends – Fabrics and Fashion.

 

Trends created a wonderful opportunity not only to learn how the whole international fashion cycle worked, but to influence it as well.

 

Three years later, Julius joined up with Joanna Neicho to create their own fashion promotion company, Indesign.

 

Indesign is now in its 36^th year and has an enviable reputation as the first specialist recruitment agency for fashion designers.

 

Their clients are worldwide and they follow the careers of their huge database of designers from their Art School day’s right through to the culmination of their careers.

 

In recognition of the work that he has done, Julius has been honoured by a fellowship at the RCA and the chairmanship of Texprint.

 

Christian Dewar Durie

 

Christian Dewar Durie is responsible for raising funding for the Texprint® programme and for its public relations.

 

Her own career started out studying fashion at St Martin’s School of Art. Her first commercial designs were for Ascher for Jean Patou and embroideries for Christian Dior – London; her first position was designing shoes and handbags for H&M Rayne with its shops in Bond Street, Paris and New York.

 

She returned to fashion design and worked in London and Hong Kong before becoming director of women’s wear at consultants Nigel French. From there she moved to independent fashion textile consultancy and journalism. All these experiences now help her with contacts and knowledge of the industry to aid finding suitable support for launching the careers of the newest generations of textile designers.

 

She says, “It is easy to arouse interest in the work of Texprint and in its annual crop of new textile design talent; the creativity and skills of the designers once presented in the appropriate arena attract their own attention. It is much harder work to find the funding that is required to make the selections, to bring the designers to the right place and promote them to the best international audience; to make them easy accessible.

 

Texprint, as well as being a first class textile design resource, also provides a marketing, advertising and philanthropic opportunity for those looking to support creative talent and youth / education / employment possibilities, within the framework of the textile industry. It welcomes sponsors and supporters from a wide variety of sectors and countries.” 

 

                                 

 

NATHAN JENDEN

 

{mosimage}Nathan Jenden joined Kenzo as a womenswear designer in 1996 after a starry university career, first at St Martins and then gaining his Masters at the Royal College of Art.

 

Three years later he left Paris for New York to work on a new womenswear collection for Tommy Hilfiger.

 

In 2000 he joined Daryl K as Design Director with total responsibility for all collections – from runway to the women’s and men’s diffusion lines.

 

In 2001 he took up his current role as Creative Director at Diane von Furstenberg at the time when she was re-establishing her famous New York label.

 

 

CHRISTOPHER BAILEY, BURBERRY

 

Christopher Bailey joined Burberry in 2001 as Creative Director to design the brand’s ready to wear and accessory collection, as well as to define the Company’s overall image and advertising concepts.

 

Prior to his appointment at Burberry, Christopher was Senior Designer of Womenswear at Gucci, reporting to Tom Ford from 1996-2001. From 1994 to 1996 he was Womenswear Designer at Donna Karan. 

 

Speaking about the inspiring nature of his work with Burberry Christopher Bailey said “I love the whole concept of history, I love the whole idea of heritage. I like the idea that there’s a history that you can build upon and become a part of it. I think that’s very important for me as a designer, I love being part of something that’s been before and adding to that.”