Winning by design
Image: The sweater as it appears online at the Harvey Nichols website.
University of Brighton Textiles with Business Studies BA(Hons) student Tegan Kersey who graduated from the Faculty of Arts last year, has seen a sweater she designed put on sale at Harvey Nichols store in Knightsbridge.
Tegan won the opportunity to have her sequinned reindeer design sold at the luxury, fashion retailer as part of the Wool School competition run by The Wool Campaign, of which HRH Prince of Wales is patron.
She entered the competition whilst still a student, gaining valuable industry experience as an intern working with the design team at DKNY in New York and Cast Creations in the UK through the faculty’s placements programme.
It was Tegan’s passion for wool that led her to enter the Christmas-themed competition and she was chosen from a large number of entrants throughout the UK to have her design put on sale. The jumper has also been featured in Vogue magazine.
Tegan said: “I decided to enter as I’m really passionate about using traditional natural fibres which are becoming more widely available.
“It has been a privilege and an honour to win such an exciting competition. I have been able to watch my design grow from initial research and development to being sold in one of the world’s leading retailers.
“Selling the jumper as a commercial piece posed new challenges for me as I had to experiment with using materials that could be manufactured easily and appealed to Harvey Nichols customers.”
Knitwear researcher and lecturer, Toni Hicks, said: "Tegan worked innovatively during her course, incorporating metal washers into her woolen knits to create fabrics with a unique weight and movement."Tegan is currently completing a knitwear design internship for Ann Inc. in New York, another industry partner who offer Brighton students placements, and hopes to work as a knitwear designer on her return to the UK in January 2013.
Tegan’s jumper goes on sale from 15 October, to coincide with UK Wool Week.