About Me
I’m Esther, a fashion design graduate, with a women's knitwear focus.
I am a fashion design graduate from Edinburgh College of Art, specialising in knitwear for womenswear. As a designer, I am incredibly hands on and love to engage in physical making processes, in particular the creation of knitted textiles. Craftsmanship and sustainability are fundamental to my work, with my designs focusing on hand crafted finishings.
During my time at Edinburgh College of Art I have found my passion for creating fashion that evokes a sense of joy and quirkiness, which I explore through my playful silhouettes and detailing. Throughout my graduate collection it has been important for me to connect to the wider community, engaging in collaborations with members of the community to create wooden structures and hand knitted accessories that are featured within each look. I aspire to bring my passion for sustainability, knitwear and craftsmanship to future roles, while combining this with my interest in community inclusiveness.
INSPIRATION
I created this image in response to my exploration of the tactility of craft and pottery patterns.
As part of my research into crafting and communities, I began to look further into the tactility of crafting, looking at vintage pottery within that theme. I explored both the patterns on vintage pottery as well as the shapes created when throwing pottery on a wheel. The curving shapes of thrown pottery vessels inspired my curved ribbed knitted textiles. The floral patterns in this image inspired the hole punched patterns threaded with yarn, that feature on the leather garments within my collection.
I was heavily inspired by the tactile experience of crafting, exploring the importance of this in regards to pottery as well as in relation to further research themes into traditional Scottish Fisherrow Wives, who knitted on the seashores of Scotland. Such research informed the generation of the richly textured knitted textiles within my collection. The pottery piece held in this image also inspired the pottery buttons I hand made for the collection.
MY WORK
PORTFOLIOS
DETAIL
Textural puff sleeve knit jumper I developed, with wooden hoop back detail.
This image shows the textural knit I developed and used for this puff sleeve jumper that has a wooden hoop closure and high neck. The knit was developed in order to create a highly sensory experience for the wearer, with rows of looping wool tops being dispersed between rows of mock rib. The soft blue colour was inspired by traditional blue patterned pottery, while the puffed balloon knit sleeves are a way of reinterpreting 80s puffball prom dresses. I knitted whole piece on a 7-gauge Dubied industrial knitting machine, with the loops on the jumper created by laying in Shetland wool tops. The wooden hoop fastening was inspired by research into Fisherrow Wives and the hoop like dresses they wore, as well as taking inspiration from traditional hand knitting accessories. I collaborated with a local Edinburgh joiner to create the wooden hoop, adding drilled holes and wool top stitching, inspired by historical knitting belts.
'I aim for my collection to reflect my utopian dreamworld, creating a sensory experience through a RTW collection with my rich textiles and knit.'
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