London Craft Week: Amélie Crépy - Oak, Ink and the Poetry of Process
This London Craft Week, artist and designer Amélie Crépy makes a debut with a striking collection of woven upholstery textiles, launching at 67 York Street Gallery. Celebrating the ancient art of oak gall ink and the tactile beauty of pure linen, her work offers a fresh, contemporary take on sustainable textile design.
Amélie Crépy, Chene Fabric, 2025.
The magic starts with the oak gall: a curious, natural growth that forms when a gall wasp lays its egg on an oak leaf or branch. Once the tiny insect hatches and the gall drops to the forest floor, it can be crushed and brewed into a deep, velvety black ink. Used for centuries to illuminate manuscripts, oak gall ink is rich in history.
Amélie Crépy, Whole and Crushed Oak Galls.
Alongside her new woven collection, Crépy will also be displaying a new body of textile wall hangings, hand-painted with this ink and made by the artist herself using foraged materials and traditional methods. The result? Dramatic, graphic textiles that carry the quiet power of nature and the bold confidence of fine art. Each piece is unique, hand painted on 100% linen, lightfast, and designed to be treasured.
Amélie Crépy, Relic 2, Oak gall ink on linen, 2022.
Raised in Suffolk by French parents, Crépy’s roots are steeped in both hospitality and textile traditions. She studied fashion design with a focus on couture, womenswear and visual merchandising before making a name for herself in commercial textile print. For years, she created motifs and embroidery designs for leading fashion houses, her work appearing in both luxury and high-street collections around the globe.
Amélie Crépy, Hand Painted Cushions.
In 2014, she founded Creative Pattern Studio, supplying high-quality artwork and digital prints to fashion and interiors brands. But behind the scenes, a shift was taking place. The fast pace of the industry had sharpened her eye, but left her craving something slower, more meaningful, more hands-on.
Amélie Crépy, Demi Relic 1, 2023.
Her current practice reflects that shift. Working with natural pigments, handmade inks, and biodegradable fibres, Crépy blends technical skill with artistic freedom. In collaboration with AO Textiles and the historic Gainsborough Silks, she’s developed fabrics that are both luxuriously low-impact and thoughtfully sustainable.
Amélie Crépy, Chene Fabric (Detail), 2025.
With every mark and material, the work invites us to rethink how textiles are made - and what they can be. It is a celebration of slowness, craft, and the beauty that emerges when ancient knowledge meets modern design. Crépy’s message is clear: sustainability doesn’t mean sacrificing style. In fact, it might just be where true creativity begins.
We had the pleasure of hearing more about Amélie's work in our series '5 Minutes with a Friend':
Amélie, what is your first memory of a textile?
A red, hand-crocheted, tasselled dress my grandmother bought me when I was five. My mother had real difficulty getting me to take it off so she could wash it!
Can you put into words what you love about textiles?
Every item of textile holds a story. Whether crafted by hand or by machine, a great deal of thought and intention goes into its creation. Textiles carry the weight of intention and energy shaped by the people who made or used them.
I’m drawn to textiles not only for their visual and tactile qualities but for their ability to connect us to history, memory, and emotion. They are present in the most meaningful moments of our lives - a safety net, familiar, comforting something you can always return to, they are like living artefacts of experiences.
Where is your most inspiring space / place to create?
My most inspiring space will always be my studio.
That said, inspiration often strikes in the smallest of moments—while traveling, visiting a friend, or even in the middle of a work meeting. Creativity never tires; it follows me everywhere.
What has inspired you recently?
Fashion Designers - Uma Wang, Yohji Yamamoto
Artists - Ben Nicholson, Jean Arp, Eduardo Chillida
Textile Artists - Aurelia Munoz, Peter Collingwood, Olga de Amaral
Book - 'Flax-Linen the fibres of civilizations’
Place - The gardens at Domaine du Mas de Pierre Hotel, South of France
What is your most cherished textile, and why?
My grandmother’s wax-painted silk scarves. Her passion for her craft surrounded me from an early age and became the foundation of my love for textiles.
Where did you learn your craft?
I learned my craft through hands-on experience - guided by mentors, working with skilled people and taking short courses to deepen my knowledge.
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Further Information:
London Craft Week
Amélie Crépy
67 York Street Gallery
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Image Credits:
Lead Image: Amélie Crépy, Oak galls, ink, and dyed threads.
All other images as credited in photo captions.