At the School we specialise in gatherings for small groups, so that everyone can join in and have stimulating encounters during the handling sessions that follow each talk. Refreshments included. Our Spring 2020 events are £20 each booked via email to enquires@schooloftextiles.co.uk, or book all three for a 10 % discount at Eventbrite right.

Lecture 1

Laura Ashley’s Quilts and Collectables: Tuesday March 3rd, 2-4pm

Join us for a privileged virtual tour of the Laura Ashley archives, which house a fine collection of quilts, rare sample books and printed ephemera. Those amassed in her own lifetime (1925-85) reveal a connoisseur’s eye for colour, detail and the occasional quirky pattern, and can often be linked to the fabrics produced by the company for fashions and interiors.

Lecture 2

Colour: dyes, pigments and imagination: Thursday April 2nd, 2-4pm

This afternoon offers the chance to look closely at colours, with an introduction to the history of colourants enhanced through comparison of synthetics-dyed textiles with hand-dyed yarns and fabrics housed in the School’s collection. These include cloth samples from Ethel Mairet’s influential workshop, Gospels (c.1919-52) and yarn samples dyed by Ella McLeod, who founded the textile course at Farnham College of Art, 1949.

Lecture 3

Missoni Style: making “total knitwear”: Thursday May 7th, 2-4pm

In 1973, twenty years after Ottavio and Rosita Missoni had married and set up a small knitwear workshop in Gallarete, Italy, they received the prestigious Neiman Marcus Fashion Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion, regarded as the Oscar of the fashion world. Joining the likes of Schiaparelli, Chanel and Doir, find out how and why Missoni is now regarded as the most important name in total knitwear dressing.