Textile Talents: TEX+ 2025 Awards Celebrate the UK’s Rising Textile Stars

The TEX+ 2025 Awards were officially announced at the TEX+ Showcase Private View, held at London's Chelsea College of Arts, celebrating exceptional innovation, technical skill, and commercial potential from the UK’s most promising graduating textile designers.

British designers Zandra Rhodes (third from left) and Orla Kiely (second from right) with TEX+ Trustees, from left to right: Katie Greenyer, Joanna Bowring, Clare Johnston, Jeremy Somers (Chair), and Gill Gledhill

Winners were selected from a cohort of 25 finalists, representing institutions including Central Saint Martins, Glasgow School of Art, Manchester School of Art, and more. The evening also featured a keynote address by world-renowned trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort, marking her first public appearance in the UK in several years.

Philip Fimano of Trend Union/Studio Edelkoort and Trend Forecaster Lidewij (Li) Edelkoort

Among the standout winners was Beth Lingard of Leeds Arts University, who received multiple honours, including the £500 Sanderson Art in Industry Prize for Commercial & Market Potential, the Sahara Prize—which includes £500, a one-month placement at Sahara, and a design purchase opportunity—and The Pattern Cloud Prize, offering one year’s free access to The Pattern Cloud Graduate Plan.

Beth Lingard

From Central Saint Martins, Amber Fry was awarded the £1,000 TEX+ Trustees’ Prize for Sustainability & Ethical Practice, as well as the Mary Restieaux Prize, which includes a private studio visit, mentorship, and hand-dyed silk yarns.

Amber Fry with TEX+ Trustee Gill Gledhill

The Liberty Studio Prize was awarded to Esme Whitton of UWE Bristol School of Art, including a studio visit and three-month mentorship with access to the Liberty archive. 

 Esme Whitton 

Winnie Sowter of Edinburgh College of Art received the Helga Goldman Prize for Innovation & Creativity, which comes with a £1,000 cash award. 

Winnie Sowter

Severine Seidl of the Royal School of Needlework was named the recipient of the TEX+ Trustees’ Prize for Technical Excellence.

Severine Seidl 

 Yingruo Cao

Aidan Morris 

The Pentland Prize was jointly awarded to Yingruo Cao of London College of Fashion and Aidan Morris of Glasgow School of Art. 

Ashe Vine of Arts University Bournemouth took home the Bay & Brown Prize, which includes an online floral print course and portfolio session with Tracey Brown.

Ashe Vine

Celebrated trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort remarked:

“The future is incredibly bright when I see so many students courageously confronting the major challenges of our time—rethinking materials, reshaping systems, and reviving crafts. At TEX+, we witness a new generation not just dreaming of change, but designing it.”

Formerly known as Texprint, TEX+ is the UK’s leading platform for emerging textile talent. With a 50-year legacy of supporting graduates in fashion, interiors, and material innovation, TEX+ offers real opportunities through internships, mentoring, and professional development, while fostering a thriving community of textile specialists.

Finalists were judged across five core pillars: Innovation & Creativity, Technical Excellence, Sustainability & Ethical Practice, Commercial & Market Potential, and Cultural & Social Impact.

Jeremy Somers, Chair of TEX+, said:

“Every year we’re amazed by the depth of talent coming through, but the 2025 cohort has truly raised the bar. These designers are not only technically skilled but are also engaging with some of the most urgent conversations in design today—from sustainability to storytelling, identity to innovation. The TEX+ prizes are about celebrating that talent and providing vital recognition and support as these graduates step into the industry.”

Now a registered charity, TEX+ continues to be supported by leading figures in the textile and design world, including British designers Orla Kiely, Emma J Shipley, and Peter Ackroyd MBE, Chairman of the Campaign for Wool. Alumni have gone on to work with global brands such as Chanel, Nike, and Liberty, or have founded acclaimed studios including Wallace & Sewell and Quinton Chadwick.

All images from TEX+

Designer Rory Hutton adds new designs to his popular Garden Collection of scarves

Just in time for nature’s launch of Spring and the approaching Mother’s Day celebrations in the UK, textile designer Rory Hutton has looked ahead to the warmer months with a new range of scarves to add to his Garden Collection.  As always, his designs are enriched with inspiration from iconic garden designers and their amazing themes, as well as mythical stories.

Silk scarf: Gertrude's Garden
by Rory Hutton.

Rory said over the long dark months of January and February, he has been busily distracting himself with the joys of summer, looking ahead to bountiful gardens ablaze with flowers and colour.  

The result is three new scarves (as shown below) which draw inspiration from Vita Sackville-West’s White Garden, Gertrude Jeykll’s colourful borders and the mythical Flora, Roman goddess of flowering plants. All three new scarves in 100% silk, measure 90 x 90cm, have rolled edges and are made in Italy.

Rory said, “I hope these scarves will inspire sartorial gardeners everywhere and become the accessory of choice for tea on the lawn or an afternoon spent weeding and pruning!”, quoting English author and garden designer Vita Sackville-West who once said “Flowers really do intoxicate me” this is a sentiment that Rory Hutton can certainly agree with. For Spring/Summer 2022 the designer is adding three new designs to his popular Garden Collection.

The first scarf in this trio is called Vita’s White Garden and features the above quote together with another from Vita Sackville-West, "Still, no gardener would be a gardener if he did not live in hope". 

Vita Sackville-West designed a white garden at her home, Sissinghurst Castle in the county of Kent. The garden is now iconic and widely regarded as one of the first modern gardens in Britain. 

 

Rory says, ‘I’ve always been drawn to this idea, a white garden is as much a study of green as it is of white and I can’t imagine anything more calming than being surrounded by the subtle beauty of white and green on a summers day.’

 

Formal parterres and knot gardens dominate the center of this design and are surrounded by an array of white flowers in bloom. ‘I have poured my longing for such a space into this design’.

The next scarf is Gertrude's Garden, inspired garden designer Gertrude Jekyll. Influenced by the Arts & Crafts movement, Jekyll created some of the most celebrated Edwardian and early twentieth century gardens. Particularly noted for her explosions of colour, Jekyll had a painterly approach to her gardens and her work can be found throughout the British Isles and further afield. A keen plants woman, Jekyll began collecting and cultivating plants at a young age, sourcing interesting specimens from the wild as well as ancient cottage gardens.

 

Of this design Rory says, "This is the most colourful design I have ever attempted, Jekyll has inspired me to be brave!"

The flowers featured in the design were all used by Jekyll in her schemes. The garden bench at the center is in a style favored by renowned architect Edwin Lutyens. Lutyens was a great admirer of Jekyll’s work and they regularly collaborated, her designing the gardens to compliment his buildings.

The cat seated on Lutyen’s bench is a nod to Jekyll's love of feline company, she even included a chapter titled ‘Pussies in the Garden’ in her 1908 book, Children and Gardens.

The third design is entitled Temple of Flora, an ode to Flora, the Roman Goddess of flowering plants. In this design Flora takes centre stage. Holding a garland of flowers she stands in a classical temple. 

Featuring a vibrant red and pink scarf, the colours of roses, Flora’s temple is surrounded by formal parterre and knot gardens with ornately scrolling ironwork marking the perimeter.  The outer borders are filled with a joyful abundance of flowering specimens.

Other features within the garden include a dovecote, birdbath, potted orange tree, a sundial and elegant tulipieres or tulip holders. In front of the temple we can see the gardener’s dog together with her abandoned sun hat and watering can.

All images courtesy of Rory Hutton.

British Textile Designer Set to Launch Luxury Silk Cushion Collection this April

British textile designer Millie Bridget Henry is expanding her business into homewares and will launch her first luxury silk cushion collection this spring. 

Pink Bengal Tiger Silk Cushion
by Millie Bridget Henry 

The new SS22 Collection of cushions, launching on April 11th, is titled The Wilderness, inspired by wild and natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly altered by human activity and the wild animals that roam within these surroundings, said Millie, whose designs are rich and intricate. 

Enchanted Forest Stag Silk Cushion
by Millie Bridget Henry 

The UK-made cushions measuring 45cm x 45cm are in 100% Silk, and feature navy cotton velvet backing & piping, while they also come with sustainably-sourced feather-filled inner cushion pads. 

Leopard Silk Cushion by Millie Bridget Henry

According to Millie, the design process begins in her studio in Buckinghamshire, whereshe  takes inspiration from her photographic archive, mood-boards and research that have inspired the collections. She will then bring all of her drawings together creating a linear design, which is then coloured digitally. The designs are then printed onto the finest luxury fabric and finished to the highest standard.

Millie graduated from the Winchester School of Art in 2010, specialising in Textile Print Design. After graduating, Millie interned at various fashion houses before deciding to travel in 2012. Upon her return she moved to London and started work at Huntsman-bespoke tailors - on Savile Row and found her love for Men’s accessories. In 2016 she started work at Buckingham Palace with a team of conservators providing a conservation service to the Royal Collection. 

An internship at Zandra Rhodes in 2017 put Millie firmly on the path to setting up her own design studio. The brand was launched in 2018 with a collection of men’s luxury pocket squares. Since then, Millie has launched a range of men’s accessories which are stocked in many west end ateliers such as Budd, Benson & Clegg, Mason & Sons, Caroline Andrews and Montague Ede.   

Blackbuck Navy Silk Cushion
by Millie Bridget Henry

Speaking about her journey to launching her new collections in homeware, the young designer says, “The last two years have been incredibly difficult for everyone but as a small business in the early years since inception it was extremely disheartening. There have been days I wanted to give up, but I kept pushing and wanted to spend the extra time during lockdown to find ways to expand the business and take it to the next level. I’m really excited to be expanding into homeware and working on a variety of products for the future.”

All imagess courtesy of Millie Bridget Henry.

Premiere Vision Paris takes over the reins of TexSelect to support textile creation and design

Premiere Vision Paris takes over the reins of TexSelect to support textile creation and design

Première Vision Paris attracts some 60,000 trade visitors, fashion and textile professionals from around the world and international members press and media to each of their bi-annual seasonal events.
The next PV Paris will take place 17 - 19 September 2019 in Parc des Expositions, Paris.
Photo by Lucia Carpio.

A couple of  months ago news got out that the not-for-profit organisation TexSelect (previously known as TexPrint) was to  wind up after more than 40 years of nurturing, mentoring and supporting British-trained textile and design talents due to funding challenges and the retirement of long-standing management executives. 

Now industry professionals can feel a sense of relieve with the announcement that the Paris-based Premiere Vision Group, organiser of the world's leading sourcing events for fashion professionals, will continue its support for emerging textile designers through an agreement with TexSelect that will build on the talent search programme's legacy with an international perspective from 2020.

The P.V. Group will take over as champion of new graduate talent when TexSelect completes its voluntary winding up at the end of the year.  Further announcements will be made about the future structure of the talent selection scheme under Premiere Vision's auspices during the September 2019 edition at Premiere Vision Paris in Parc des Expositions.  The two organisations have run in parallel for nearly 50 years, share a common objective of supporting creativity in textile design.

"Both Premiere Vision and TexSelect view knit, print, weave and mixed media innovators as being a vital, creative force in the advancement of textile and apparel design, "says Gilles Lasbordes,  (at left) managing director of Premiere Vision Group.  "Premiere Vision is committed to giving new designers space and support between university and the launch of their professional practice."

Barbara Kennington, TexSelect's honorary chairman (at right) explains:" Over recent years, we have had a tough time raising the funds required to run the scheme.  At the same time, many of our loyal management team are retiring."

"As a major sponsor and host of the TexSelect design village, we spoke with our colleagues at Premiere Vision about our intention to windup the charity at the end of 2019.  We are delighted that Premiere Vision has been so forthcoming and will create new opportunities for young designers when TexSelect in its current form closes."

Premiere Vision Group is the global leader in upstream, creative fashion trade shows.  From 15 Lyon-based weavers in the early 1970s to more than 2,000 exhibitors at PV Paris today, the group's strategy has remained to support the development of the international fashion industry and major market evolutions through its services and 12 events per year, to which has been added a unique online sourcing tool:  Premiere Vision Marketplace, managed by the company's subsidiary, Premiere Vision Digital.

The next PV Paris will take place 17 - 19 September 2019 in Parc des Expositions, Paris.  The show encompasses textiles, leather, yarns, fabric design, haberdashery and accessories,  knits finished goods and manufacturing. 

All photos by Lucia Carpio.