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Holland & Sherry Student Design

Holland and Sherry began with wool and their name has been synonymous with the finest wool cloth. They are delighted to be involved in the Student Design Competition with Campaign for Wool to celebrate the 10 year Anniversary, and to promote the natural, sustainable and biodegradable properties of wool as well as its versatility and beauty.

In 2020, Holland and Sherry returns to their ancestral roots with the 9-10 Savile Row Collection. With wool, their most celebrated natural fibre, Holland & Sherry have pushed the boundaries of design and performance to create a collection defined by excellence and rooted in heritage. The designs offer a glimpse into the centuries old association with Savile Row and Bespoke tailoring while at the same time embracing the transitional aesthetic of interiors. The collection compromise of traditional menswear styles focused on rich wools: checks, windowpanes, tweeds, herringbones and jacquards.

The project was an exciting opportunity for a student to develop a bespoke jacquard or dobby weave design to complement our 9-10 Saville Row Collection, using our heritage theme and palette of rich mélange merino wools for inspiration.

H&S briefed students to submit one mood board and one development board showing their research, inspiration, design ideas, pattern, colour, concept weaves, with a final design either as a CAD output or drawn design concept, and an indication of how the end product would be used in the interior market. We would also like the student to include a few sentences about their process for the final design.

“All of the students submitted great research and had creative ideas for interpreting designs in wool for the interior while working with our theme of 9/10 Savile Row and Holland & Sherry’s tailoring history. Ruby was able to put all of the pieces together, research and design development resulting in a pleasing, useable design that has a good mix of tradition and modernity. Her design is fresh and playful and can be used for interiors as well as menswear. Her inspiration of the street markings, viewing the area by Google Maps, and connecting those elements with the chalk markings used to cut the pattern pieces was a novel approach to meet the design criteria. Her design seamlessly works with our 9/10 Savile Row collection as if it were a part of the original collection.

We selected Anna Smith as runner up because her colour research and design development was beautiful resulting in several successful design ideas. Her patterns remind me of fair isle sweaters bringing that apparel feeling into the residential interior. Any of her designs would be a nice complement to the 9/10 Savile Row collection.” Kristin Fraidenburgh, Creative Director of Fabrics, The Holland & Sherry Warehouse.

“The Campaign for Wool Competition allowed final year weave students to work on live project briefs set by industry leaders in woven textiles. Students in recent years have become increasingly interested in sustainability and working with wool fits well with this. The project gave them the opportunity to work within the commercial boundaries set by the companies while also challenging their perception of wool, its application and to consider possible careers in the wool related industries. The competition was launched at what could have been the worst possible time as lockdown was immediately announced but this provided a fantastic focus for students to continue to be creative and work in new ways. The positive feedback from companies was a welcome boost to the students and publicity around wool week will provide much appreciated publicity for the now graduates.” Elaine Bremner, Glasgow School of Art

“My project with Holland & Sherry has encapsulated the duality of wool; its rich heritage and versatility for modern textile production. My jacquard design recognised the relationship between craftsman and street; expressing the similarities between chalk marks on cloth and the painted markings on the road outside, which I explored using Google Street View. Working alongside Holland & Sherry has provided a unique insight into the production process and a leg up as I begin my career within the textile industry, so again, I’d like to thank the whole team for their time and support.” Ruby Gardner, Winning Student

“Holland and Sherry: This was not the first time I’ve used wool as a fibre but it was the first time I’ve considered it in such a bright, colourful combination. I think wool is an incredibly useful and sustainable fibre. There are so many different uses for wool that are dismissed for synthetic fibres when wool would be just as practical and beautiful. I am currently exploring this in more detail through being part of the journey of wool from the very beginning, rolling the wool as it’s sheared from the sheep and then washing, brushing, spinning and weaving all by hand. The sunset landscape that inspired my entry is the sky that these sheep see every evening. This competition really pushed me to delve deeper into the process behind wool as a fibre.” Anna Smith, Runner Up

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