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Designer

Hawthorne & Heaney for Eva Habecka

June 18, 2020 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Hawthorne & Heaney for Eva Habecka London Hand EmbroideryDesign by Eva Hebecka Napier, Embroidery and Image Hawthorne & Heaney

Another up and coming designer we have been working for recently is the lovely Eva Hebecka Napier. We worked with this BA fashion Design student from Kingston University on her graduate collection as she has a piece which she wanted to add some extra detail to in the form of embroidery which would refect her syrian ancestry as one of the themes of her project.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Eva Habecka London Hand EmbroideryDesign by Eva Hebecka Napier, Embroidery and Image Hawthorne & Heaney

This is the piece from her design we went on to produce for her.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Eva Habecka London Hand Embroidery Image by Eva Hebecka Napier

And the beautiful coat onto which it has now found its home.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Eva Habecka London Hand Embroidery Image by Eva Hebecka Napier

If you would like to see more from Eva and the other pieces from her collection, find her on instagram  or her website

Images courtsey of @evahebecka unless otherwise stated.

Filed Under: Art, Embroidery, Fashion Tagged With: Designer, embellishment, embroidery, eva hebecka napier, graduate, kingston university, machine embroidery, syrian ancestry

Hawthorne & Heaney visits ‘An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik’ at the Wallace Collection

August 21, 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Hawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand Embroidery‘A Girl Threading a Needle by Candlelight’ by G. Schalcken

The Wallace Collection is a hidden gem in London’s art history crown, which even this museum buff and lifelong Londoner has only just discovered. Set in a stunning 18th Century building on Manchester Square (just off Oxford Street) it is hard to believe it has taken this long to come across it. Housing some very famous works of art such as Hals’s ‘Laughing Cavalier’, Boucher’s ‘Madame De Pompadour’ and many Gainsborough’s there is plenty to see if you fancy a bit of an oppulent afternoon in the city. For keen stitchers, there are some stunning tapestry works as well as these 17th century wall hangings from Italy featuring lots of goldwork techniques. Now, until the end of August they have upped the ante a bit further by adding stunning couture shoes into the mix.

Hawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand Embroidery Hawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand EmbroideryWall hangings, Italian, c. 1650, maker unknown

For a limited time the Wallace Collection is also displaying a selection of footwear superstar Manolo Blahnik amongst their artworks. Unlike many other fashion exhibitions, this is more of an intergration of the shoes in amongst the other art, they sit alongside the permenant collection (sometime on them!) in carefully arranged bell jars. This makes the exhibiton much more intimate as you feel you can get up close to all the pieces on display and all are treated with equal respect.

Hawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand EmbroideryHawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand EmbroideryHawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand Embroidery

The selection of shoes in each room has been themed to compliment the artworks they are among. A particular favourite of mine was the oval drawing room where the most decadent shoes Blahnik designed for Sofia Coppola’s film ”Marie Antoinette” are shown amongst the sweet coloured room featuring Fragonard’s ‘Swing’ and Boucher’s ‘Madame de Pompadour’.

Hawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand EmbroideryHawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand Embroidery

From an embroidery perpective there are a few pieces that standout as particulally beautiful. These boots ‘ Lepanto’ (Davee) 2003 look to be a combinations of hand painting and embroidery to a very rich effect.

Hawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand Embroidery

These pink petal encrusted pair called ‘Amir’ 1997 look like they belong with some of the dresses from the ‘Designer of Dreams’ Exhbition which is still on at the V & A Museum

Hawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand Embroidery

Of course, there are beads so we couldn’t not mention ‘Zarina’ 2015 which are the very definition of encrusted.

Hawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand Embroidery

Downstairs is a wall of the original sketches for shoes on display upstairs, showing Blahnik’s distinctive style and flare.

Hawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand Embroidery

Overall it has all been very respectly done. It is clear from the selection that Blahnik is passionate about beauty and craftsmanship with many skills shown in his designs and revisited throughout the years. There is not much information on each of the pieces, a simple sticker of each one’s name and year leaves you with a few questions perhaps, but lets you enjoy them uninterupted.

 

‘An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blahnik at the Wallace Collection’  is on until the 1st Sept 2019, Entrance is free.

Filed Under: Embroidery, Fashion, Interior Design, London Tagged With: beading, Collection, couture, design, Designer, drawing, embrdoiery, exhibition, inspiration, London, Manolo Blahnik, Museum, now on, sewing, shoes, textiles, things to do, wallace collection

Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams

December 21, 2017 by Natasha Searls-Punter

View this post on Instagram

Runway through the years #Dior #runway #couture

A post shared by Tasha Searls-Punter (@tashasearlspunter) on Dec 21, 2017 at 3:44am PST

Every now and then, there is an exhibition that we feel we just have to see, and usually one holds out until it (hopefully) comes to London. However the risk of missing out on ‘Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams’ at Musee Des Arts Decoratifs was one that was too great and we felt compelled to go. So last month, Natasha made the trip to Paris to see the much hyped display.Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery

The exhibition begins with some history about Christian Dior’s family and his life before setting up the house as an art gallery owner and fashion illustrator. A brief introduction to the facets of the house it followed by the first main gallery. In this room, each section is divided by colour, each cabinate displaying a pallette with a variety of dresses, 12” minatures and accessories.

Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery

As an embroiderer, one of the most outstanding aspects of this exhibition was the level of detail you could see in the gowns and the emphasis that was placed on showing off the incredible textures. These were reflected in the papercut flowers and foliage that hung from the ceiling in a few of the rooms which were inspired by the fragrances that make up Dior’s famous perfumes.

Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery

Some of the textiles could be descibed as quite tradtional beading, whilst others would be considered to be more experimental, playing with feathers and layering but all were undeniably beautiful.

Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery

They also had an in house embroiderer demonstrating some tambour beading onto a panel of one of the gown and chatting with the public about what she was doing. The piece was framed up in a large slate frame, with one end complete and, the other drafted on. The drafts and drawings for the piece were hanging to one side of her with a partically completed gown on display behind her. The finished gown was part of the final gallery to put the whole process into context.

View this post on Instagram

Tambour beading demonstration #Dior #tambour #embroidery

A post shared by Tasha Searls-Punter (@tashasearlspunter) on Dec 21, 2017 at 3:28am PST

Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery

The white gallery was reminiscent of the layout of the Savage Beauty exhibition at the V&A museum in London where you were dwarfed by the pieces, however here the emphasis was placed purely on the cut of the garments. Each one is the toile of a gown we had already seen in the body of the exhibition to explain the development of each piece and the alterations process it has been through to get to the final design.

Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery

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Floor to ceiling toiles #dior #paris #dressmaking

A post shared by Tasha Searls-Punter (@tashasearlspunter) on Nov 10, 2017 at 2:41pm PST

Final last gallery was all the real show stopping gowns, the space itself adds to the gravity of the items on display. They enhanced the experience with moving light displays across the walls which gave the impression of gold snow, unashamedly playing up to the couture fairytale.

Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visit Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams London Hand Embroidery

View this post on Instagram

Dior: designer of dreams was magical! #paris #fashionexhibition #dior

A post shared by Tasha Searls-Punter (@tashasearlspunter) on Nov 9, 2017 at 10:45am PST

It would be fair to say this exhibition was excellent, going around it all took at least 2 and a half hours going through it all but one could have stayed much longer. The amount of pieces on display and the generous space that was given to each one made it a very leisurely experience. I really enjoyed the way they played with scale in the lay out, starting off the with minatures gallery, then allowing you to get up close with the real sized pieces and then emmersing you in the white and final galleries.

If you would like to read another perspective on the exhibition, have a read of Tina Isaac-Goizé’s thoughts for Vogue here.

‘Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams’ is on show at Musee Des Arts Decoratifs in Paris until 7th Jan 2018 so catch it while you have the chance!

Filed Under: Embroidery, Fashion Tagged With: beading, couture, Designer, designer of dreams, dior, display, dresses, embroidery, exhibition, feathers, gallery, house of dior, layering, musee des arts decoratifs, paris, ribbon, tambour, textiles

Hawthorne & Heaney in Conversation with Laura Lees

April 5, 2017 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Hawthorne & Heaney in Conversation with Laura Lees London Hand Embroidery

Fellow embroiderer, artist and designer Laura Lees is usually found creating highly colourful, fine art pieces furniture pieces but she took a little time away from her usual pursuits to speak with us about her work:

 

Hawthorne & Heaney: Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today, we’d like to start by asking you the question we get asked quite a lot of how did you get into embroidery originally?
 
Laura Lees: I applied for a city and guilds embroidery course when I was 17 and fell in love with it then. I found my skills at drawing not exceptional but confident. I found a new level of ability with the needle and thread superior than that of drawing with a pencil.
H&H: And what is it that inspires you?
LL: The way you can transform something from the ordinary to the extraordinary. I love the feel of the threads, the sound the scissors make when they’re cutting fabric, the quality of line and the battering noise and speed of my beloved Bernina industrial sewing machine. most importantly, I love the clarity of heart and mind, the skill involved and the the fact that i am always learning.

H&H: What would you like your students to take away from your class?

LL: A real sense of achievement, pride and enjoyment.

H&H: Where can we see more of your works?

LL: I am preparing for an exhibition to take place at the end of the year, inspired by dutch author Joris Luyendijk s book ‘Swimmimg with Sharks’ which demistifys the financial world of the city banks. This resonated deeply with me, having amongst many others lost my fashion label in the 2008 crash.  I explore the ‘smoke and mirrors’ architectural language of finance by descending on what must be the least understood environment in Europe: the City of London. Taking the habitat of the so-called and self-described Masters of the Universe as my inspiration and translating the visceral world that lives and survives by opacity into tangeable abstract textiles.

H&H: Anything coming up in the pipeline you can share with us?

LL: I have recently launched The Mighty Stitch corporate workshops, The Mighty Stitch embroidery workshops teach teams a new skill, engendering engagement and motivation, ultimately creating a bespoke embroidered piece of art for your workplace. • Simple, supportive instruction • No experience needed, anyone can take part
Participants are encouraged to be playful and experimental – the workshops facilitate collaboration, communication, storytelling, mindfulness, and, most importantly, making a mess! Enhanced work environment we all need a bit of that, i think .

H&H: Thanks again, I’m sure we will be seeing much more of you with all that come up!

 

Hawthorne & Heaney in Conversation with Laura Lees London Hand Embroidery

Laura also has a Workshop coming up in April which will give the participants the opportunity to be a part of Laura’s work as the pieces created on the day will be encorporated into a new piece which will be exhibited at the RIBA as part of the London Festival of Architecture. Follow the link to secure your place for this intriguing and unusual opportunity:

Hawthorne & Heaney in Conversation with Laura Lees London Hand Embroidery

‘The Riba workshop is a full day, immersed in urban embroidery.  We will focus on how a city evolves through its inhabitants by learning freehand machine embroidery, hand stitching and applique. The outcome is to create an embroidered image of a building or architectural structure.  

Afterwards, I will explore how a city is fabricated by stitching together the individual and diverse pieces made by workshop participants into a new work to be exhibited a the RIBA as part of @londonfestivalofarchitecture. 

All artwork will be returned to the participants after the exhibition.
This workshop is part of the programme of events inspired by the exhibition ‘Mies van der Rohe and James Stirling: Circling the Square’. 

Urban Tapestry with Laura Lees, 22 & 23 April, 11am to 4pm
RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London, W1B 1AD
Booking at architecture.com/Workshop ‘

Hawthorne & Heaney in Conversation with Laura Lees London Hand Embroidery

All images credited to Laura Lees

Filed Under: Art, Embroidery, London Tagged With: architecture, art, artist, Collaboration, Designer, embroidery, furniture, Hawthorne & Heaney, inspiration, Laura lees, London, London festival of Architecture, machine embroidery, riba, stitch, tapestry, textiles, texture, workshop

Hawthorne & Heaney for A V Robertson

September 22, 2016 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Hawthorne & Heaney for A V Robertson London Hand Embroidery

If you follow our Instagram, then  you may have seen our post earlier in the week about the Fashion East show which we were delighted to have played a part in.  The mancunian designer, A V Robertson who specialises in embellished womenswear created a collection of elegant looks with an abundance of 3D leaves and hand embroidered elements. We were responsible for creating the leaves and petals that grow out of the garments, each of which was individually hand made.

Hawthorne & Heaney for A V Robertson London Hand Embroidery

The process started with making hundreds of meters bias binding which would seal and finish each of the pieces. As you can see Amie from A V Robertson had chosen a very exciting colour palette to work with, so there were many combinations to choose from.

Hawthorne & Heaney for A V Robertson London Hand Embroidery

After pressing all the binding into shape, it was then applied to the center fabric that made up the body of the leaves.

Hawthorne & Heaney for A V Robertson London Hand EmbroideryWith 8 colours of binding, 13 fabric insides and 8 leaf shapes, there were hundreds of potential combinations.

Hawthorne & Heaney for A V Robertson London Hand Embroidery

Then it was over to Amie to put her creations all together, if you would like to see the whole collection, click here for the vogue website.

Hawthorne & Heaney for A V Robertson London Hand Embroidery

Hawthorne & Heaney for A V Robertson London Hand Embroidery

 

 

 

Filed Under: Art, Embroidery, Fashion, London Tagged With: 3D, a v robertson, amie victoria robertson, bias binding, binding, colour, Designer, embellishment, embroidery, fashion, fashion east, hand embroidery, hand made, leaves, LFW, London, London Fashion Week, organza, petals, spring summer 2017, ss17, stitching

Hawthorne & Heaney for Ong Oaj Pairam

February 24, 2016 by Natasha Searls-Punter

With London Fashion Week well and truely underway, we thought we would share with you a little piece of Hawthorne & Heaney embroidery that made its way onto the catwalk. We worked with the Brighton based designer Ong Oaj Pairam on his AW2016 collection to produce a heavily encrusted, lace and crystal bodice.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Ong Oaj Pairam London Hand Embroidery

It was a pretty quick turn around so we used all the tools at our disposal when we were developing the techniqies. The collection has a dark fairytale/ Victorian lost love theme which we worked into the designs. Using our CAD embroidery machine we developed lace like flower and leaf designs to build up a heavy base and compliment the sheen of the duchess satin on which they would be placed.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Ong Oaj Pairam London Hand EmbroideryAlong side this we experiemented with a variety of different sequin techniques for creating floral effects

Hawthorne & Heaney for Ong Oaj Pairam London Hand Embroidery

Once this was all decided on then all there was left to do was to get stitching

Hawthorne & Heaney for Ong Oaj Pairam London Hand Embroidery Hawthorne & Heaney for Ong Oaj Pairam London Hand Embroidery

We were really pleased with the effect, it felt very heavy to hold but wonderfully textured. When teamed with the jaquard trousers and sheer shirt from the rest of Pairam’s collection it really comes to life.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Ong Oaj Pairam London Hand Embroidery

We hope you enjoy looking at this piece as much as we enjoyed working on it. Check in again with us to see what else we have been working on recently…

If you would like to see more from Ong Oaj Pairam, please visit his website

Filed Under: Embroidery Tagged With: aw 2016, bodice, Brighton, cad, Collection, crystals, Designer, encrusted, fairytale, flowers, Hawthorne & Heaney, jaquard trouders, lace, leaves, London Embroidery, London Fashion Week, lost love, machine, ong oaj pairam, raising, satin, sequins, Silk, stitching, themes, victorian, womenswear

Hawthorne & Heaney for Clio Peppiatt at London Fashion Week

September 24, 2015 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Clio Peppiatt’s recent SS16 show at London Fashion Week in Soho entitled “Kiss the Future”, was a fun collection full of bright colours and texture. Featuring an array of embroidery and sequins, Clio’s collection was inspired by feminism; a topic continuously used to fuel her inspiration.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Clio Peppiatt at London Fashion Week London Hand Embroidery

Youth culture, another reoccurring influence for Clio Peppiatt was dominant in the collection. With strong nods towards the future in outer space-inspired needlework, her aim to create unique and positive clothes that make women feel happy, bold and fearless was clear in her most current collection.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Clio Peppiatt at London Fashion Week London Hand Embroidery

Hawthorne & Heaney were commissioned to make of a pair of Saturn planets for a baby-pink cord jacket. The badges were all hand stitched, with iridescent sequins used for the embellished centre of the planets, and a combination of satin stitch and gold work for the rings.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Clio Peppiatt at London Fashion Week London Hand Embroidery

The embroidered badges turned out beautifully and looked stunning on the pink jacket, the piece that truly represented the collection title, “Kiss the Future”.

 

For more imagery of show, follow Clio Peppiatt on instagram: @cliopeppiatt or visit her website here.

 

 

Filed Under: Embroidery, Embroidery, Fashion, London, London Embroidery Tagged With: Badge, catwalk, Clio Peppiat, Collection, Designer, embroidery, Embroidery London, fashion, Feminism, Futuristic, goldwork, Hawthorne & Heaney, Hawthorne and Heaney, jacket, LFW, London Fashion Week, Needlework, Saturn, sequins, Space, ss16, stitching

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