This weekend will mark the finale of the London Transport Museum’s three month long project “Weaving Futures”. Since November of last year, the institution has been highlighting the importance of woven textiles to the London transport system with a rich programme of in-studio events curated in partnership with research and design industry experts Philippa Brock and Samuel Plant Dempsey. Having already featured an impressive roster of leading weavers, artists and designers alike, the programme culminates this weekend with a talk given by one of Britain's top textiles designers, Eleanor Pritchard.
“Upholster and Accessorise” is the title of this event, and it will give visitors the opportunity to meet Pritchard with her team of weavers, designers and manufacturers and together explore how to use geometrics and graphic reversible patterns in their designs. Pritchard will provide expert insight into creating her recognisable style of clean, contemporary design in response to the Transport Museum’s travel brief. Like many other makers who have already taken part, Pritchard will be based in the museum’s pop-up "Designology Studio" as she explores the broader role of textiles in modern transport now, as well as its possibilities for the future.
Pritchard’s practice approaches traditional British textile crafts, such as Welsh tapestry and Scottish tweeds, from a distinctly contemporary angle. With bold colours and geometric patterns, her style has become somewhat of a trademark of present-day British design. Her luxurious blankets are a prime example of this; beautifully and simply designed and sampled in her London studio, woven at a small traditional Welsh mill with 100% pure new wool. With an equal focus on quality as well as design, this talk looks to be a rigorous and highly knowledgeable insight into the fabrics we use today, and those we might use tomorrow. With a strong sense of integrity and place at the forefront of her practice, it will be interesting to see how Pritchard responds to the space that textiles occupy in the world of travel, and vice versa.
http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/whats-on/events-calendar/designology-studio
http://www.selvedge.org/shop/eleanor-pritchard
http://www.eleanorpritchard.com/
