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16 August 2007

MMU artist has high street sewn up

Embroiderer from MMU designs art for Topshop

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MMU artist in residence Jessica Williams, 23, has caught the eye of high-street fashion store Topshop, who have invited her to exhibit her stunning embroidered artwork at their flagship Manchester Arndale store.

Jessica heard through a friend that Topshop was looking to bring art into their stores through collaborations with local artists and contacted their Head Office in London to introduce herself to the design team.

After impressing them with her portfolio, Jessica was put in touch with the creative team at Topshop’s Manchester store and given a 2.5m² space positioned next to the jewellery to work with.

Her design includes two colourful panels filled with beautifully embroidered buttons – 93 in total! – and has received a fantastic response from shoppers.

Great response

Jessica comments: "Topshop has been using some really interesting embroidery techniques in its clothing designs recently, such as appliqué, and branching out into more individual items with it’s boutique ranges, so I wanted to create a piece of art that reflected that as well as showcased how fabric can be used as art as well as fashion.

"I’ve had a great response from shoppers and even received a few e-mails asking me about prices and where they can buy similar pieces. It’s amazing to be the first artist to work with Topshop and excellent that a company as large as them are giving local artists a chance."

Talented artist

Jessica graduated from MMU in 2006 with a First for her BA (Hons) Embroidery and is now a sessional lecturer on textiles, illustration, design and advertising design at the University.

The residency scheme at MMU aims to help young artists and designers bridge the gap between the world of art and the creative marketplace and Jessica set up her own business, which runs from a studio on Princess Street in Manchester, in November last year.

The talented artist has recently been working alongside MMU’s Alice Kettle, who she has found to be a huge inspiration, to produce parts of the design for the Winchester Discovery Centre Project.

Other areas of Jessica’s work includes designing cards for Paperchase and Clinton’s Cards, being the resident graphic designer at the Royal Northern College of Music, illustrating posters for a well-known Manchester bar, redesigning the branding for a funky Manchester boutique and producing a range of limited edition prints for art galleries Comme Ca Art and The Art Surgery.

Longer term, Jessica would like to develop her business along two main strands – art production on a commission basis and fabric design.

For further information on course at MMU go to www.artdes.mmu.ac.uk
http://www.artdes.mmu.ac.uk/