08 October 2020

Students were requested to present their own design based on one of Celtic & Co. best-selling jumpers. Submissions could include sketches, illustrations, and commentary/imagery about why the design features and yarns had been chosen, and what influenced them in their design and why it fitted well with the Celtic & Co. brand.

The judging criteria was based on originality of the design and how it complemented the existing Celtic & Co. collection. The design had to be commercial and appeal to the existing Celtic & Co. customer in terms of design, price and functionality.

Courtney Davies from Plymouth College of Art was selected as the winner and the winning garment was knitted on seamless-knit technology Shima Seiki machines, which enables the creation of beautiful, comfortable, functional clothing with almost unlimited patterning / horizontal striping, to create unique ranges of garments for most markets. It also means that patterns and designs remain uninterrupted across a style, due to no cut-and-sew, and cables, yokes, openwork and other structured patterns are possible, as well as intarsia and jacquard that all wrap around the body from front to back. The seamless construction of whole garment products also offer substantial consumer benefits such as comfort, with no abrasive seams, elegant silhouette and draping, true functional reversibility, combined with significant savings in time and costs of post-production labour and the environmental friendliness through minimized material consumption.

“There are so many talented designers in our universities. We have been very happy to work with Courtney together on this project. Her vision for our jumper fitted perfectly to our brand, style, and ethos. Wool is such a versatile material and importantly Courtney’s design is both commercial and sustainable.” Kath Whitworth, Co-founder Celtic & Co.

“Whilst working on the Celtic & Co competition I gained a lot of experience within the manufacturing component of the process. I was able to get involved in choosing colour palettes whilst also changing and manipulating the design to my needs. I was also able to send back and forth comments to the company to realise my design. Whilst choosing the colour palette it came to my attention that the original colour that I wanted wasn’t available so I had to work out what the best option would be for my design. I now prefer the new colour that was chosen as having seen a prototype in person it looks a lot better. The company has given me hands on support and have been helpful in guiding me through the process to accurately portray my vision of what the product would be. This competition has supported my creative practice and opportunities as a designer/maker because it has opened doors to new possibilities. It’s has given me the level of experience that would have been otherwise difficult to obtain, especially within the current circumstances. It’s a unique experience and I’m very grateful it has happened to me and my work will now be on display online. This is a great opportunity to get myself known and to help me get into the industry myself. It has given me a more in depth insight into the production process and how to bring designs to life in industry.” Courtney Davies, Winning Student.

“We at Plymouth College of Art are so very pleased to partner with Celtic & Co. for The Campaign for Wool’s design competition. Live design briefs such as this give our students the experience of working directly with local South West industry and expose our students to the complete design to market cycle. What an amazing opportunity for Courtney Davies to see her design realised, manufactured locally and sold as part of the Celtic and Co. winter collection.” Heather Martin MRes: Senior Lecturer & Subject Leader BA (Hons) Fashion, Plymouth College of Art

The limited edition winning jumper is available from www.celticandco.com

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