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Beth Smith

Textile Design BA (Hons)

She/Her

A hard-working and enthusiastic textile designer, specialising in multimedia textiles. Passionate about hand embroidery and embellishment, and loves combining colour, pattern and texture using a range of materials.
Embellishment on hand dyed bamboo silk/satin

Final Major Project

Ordinary Becomes Precious

My contemporary fashion collection explores wealth inequality in the UK, highlighting the fact that some people are extremely wealthy, and some are less fortunate, as they are affected by the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Inspired by some of London’s wealthiest areas (Knightsbridge, Kensington and New Bond Street), I have captured architectural features, shapes, textures and patterns through photography, drawings and monoprints, which informed my experimentation with waste materials.

My collection predominantly explores embellishment and beaded embroidery, which are skills I developed during my placement year, working on bridalwear and luxury fashion. I have crafted my own embellishments from household waste materials to show that being resourceful and using materials we already have at home can still produce high quality, beautiful designs, as not everyone has access to expensive luxury goods. By sitting these embellishments alongside luxurious fabrics such as silks and bamboo silks, with techniques such as hand and beaded embroidery, the viewer is encouraged to look at the work more closely and question what the embellishments are made from.

By using jewel tones and metallics, I am giving the illusion of opulent and precious embellishments made from expensive materials, even though they are made from discarded household waste.

Development sample: embellishments made from foil, yoghurt pots, with sequins made from drinks cans and plastic bottles
Development sample: embellishments made from foil, yoghurt pots, with sequins made from drinks cans and plastic bottles
Final collection building
Final collection building
Hand sewing a final design
Hand sewing a final design
Hand sewing a final design
Hand sewing a final design
Screen printing my foiled final designs
Screen printing my foiled final designs
Hand sewing a final design
Hand sewing a final design
Sleeve design made from drinks cans that have been cut into strips, and sewn onto hand-dyed bamboo silk/satin
Cuff design made from hand-dyed bamboo silk/satin, with embellishments made from drinks cans, plastic bottles and yoghurt pots
Final design - embellishments made from foil, yoghurt pots and plastic bottles, with sequins made from drinks cans, sewn onto foiled hand dyed silk serania.
Embellishments made from foil, yoghurt pots and plastic bottles, with sequins made from drinks cans, sewn onto foiled hand-dyed silk serania
Final design - embellishments made from drinks cans, plastic bottles and chocolate wrappers sewn onto foiled hand dyed silk serania.
Embellishments made from drinks cans, plastic bottles and chocolate wrappers sewn onto foiled hand-dyed silk serania
Final design - embellishments made from drinks cans, yoghurt pots and plastic bottles sewn onto foiled hand dyed bamboo silk/satin.
Embellishments made from drinks cans, yoghurt pots and plastic bottles sewn onto foiled hand-dyed bamboo silk/satin
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