Topshop picked up a fashion graduate’s designs for UK Wool Week.
Eve Carson
Kingston University fashion graduate Henrietta Jerram will have her knitwear designs sold in Topshop this week as part of a project for The Campaign for Wool.
A selection of high street retailers teamed up with different universities around the country to work together on the “Wool School” initiative, aiming to raise the awareness of wool production.
“I have done one jumper which is for the campaign and then Topshop actually bought another design from me and that will be going in under the Topshop label. So there will be two. There is the one which says ‘Sheep Thrills’ and another one which says ‘Sheepish’,” said Miss Jerram.
Fashion, textiles and design students across the country competed to design wool sweaters to be sold in top UK retail stores. Miss Jerram was the winner for Topshop.
According to the Campaign for Wool’s website, the organisation is trying to support small businesses and local farmers whose livelihoods depend on the wool industry.
They are aiming to educate people about the benefits and versatility of wool in fashion, furniture and everyday life.
“A bit crazy”
Miss Jerram, who came up with a winning design, said: “I ended up going for something a bit crazy; I did all these different patterns and illustrated them with sheep.
“I really wanted my designs to show what the campaign was all about, raising awareness of wool production, so that’s why I went along the sheep route. I then ended up thinking up loads of different sheep puns and then just laughing quite a lot about it, and that’s how the whole thing sort of came about.”
Miss Jerram studied fashion at Kingston and said she could find inspiration for her designs almost anywhere: “When you are doing any project you always start with the research and maybe research for about a week. So that means going into London, going to markets, picking out vintage store pieces, going on the internet and spending time in the library looking through every single book that you could imagine.”
Off to America
In March, Miss Jerram also secured a job and is leaving for America next week to work as a knitwear designer for Abercrombie and Fitch.
The Ohio-based position was offered to Miss Jerram after she completed a project for their graduate programme over the Christmas period last year and passed the two interviews.
“It’s a bit mental. I’m really, really excited, and quite nervous because obviously it’s quite a big move, but I’m actually really excited to start doing work again,” she said.
Miss Jerram’s designs will feature in Topshop from October 15 to October 21 to coincide with UK Wool Week.