Alumni | Nicola Rowe: Success Since Graduation
Textiles and Surface Design Alumni, Nicola Rowe was one of 50 lucky new designers to be invited to present her work at the prestigious London textiles event, Texprint. Following her success at the event, Nicola also showcased her work at Premiere Vision in Paris and has been offered an internship with Liberty Fabrics. Amongst all this, Nicola has had interest from Ted Baker and been featured on WGSN! We caught up with her after the events and chatted about her experiences.
- How did it feel to be selected for Texprint?
It was an amazing feeling to be selected for Texprint 2017, it was completely unexpected and took a while to sink in! As Texprint London is invitation only I had never been before!
- Can you tell us what happened at the exhibition?
During the exhibition in London I spoke to many high profile designers and exchanged contact details with them, including Mary- Ann Dunkley who is the head designer of Liberty Fabrics, Guy Goodfellow and Sarah Campbell. It was an incredible feeling to receive lots of compliments on my work from such accomplished designers who have been my inspiration. Ted Baker were also interested in buying one of my designs at the exhibition.
I also won the AVA prize and completed a training week with them learning how to use the AVA software which was fantastic. I have also been featured on the WGSN website and was selected to feature in Surface View magazine, a fantastic opportunity!
- What did you enjoy most about the exhibition? What were your highlights?
The thing I enjoyed most about Texprint London was networking with so many interesting people from within the Textile industry, it really was a dream come true to be given the opportunity to show my design work to the Head Designer of Liberty and gave me a much needed confidence boost!
- How was showcasing your work at Premiere Vision?
I have visited Premiere Vision once before when I was in first year at CCAD, I was so proud to have my design work on the stand and never imagined I would be returning in 2 years as a designer of Texprint.
- Did you get to do any networking in Paris?
I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Premiere Vision Paris, I made lots of contacts and had interest in commissions from different international companies. I also sold my first design to a London based fashion design company and had interest potential design jobs.
- What were the highlights for you?
I really enjoyed networking and meeting people from all kinds of design backgrounds, I was also really happy to sell one of my designs too.
- What have you been up to since graduation?
Since graduating I have been working on new designs and preparing for Premiere Vision in Paris, alongside replying to all correspondence from contacts I made at New Designers and Texprint. I would love to one day have my own business selling my own bespoke designs and artwork.
Nicola Rowe
www.artsthread.com/profile/nicolarowe/
www.facebook.com/nicolaevedesign/
(all images belong to Nicola Rowe)
