Sophie Elder Designs - Unique Handmade Pictures - My Background In Fashion & Textiles

biography

After school I completed a Foundation Course
in Art & Design at Ravensbourne College of
Design & Communication. Unsure whether I
wanted to be a texile or a fashion designer I
began a combined degree course at UWE,

Bristol, which let you decide after one year which
direction you wanted to go in - perfect for the indecisive!
I soon knew that textiles were the way forward for me - I
had always loved drawing and painting and this way I
could use these skills to transfer to print. I also became
slightly obsessed with hand embroidery & beading which I
used to embellish the designs I created.

I left in 2001 with a BA Hons and went on to do freelance
work which I found really eye opening. To work
commercially you have to be prepared to sacrifice a lot
of your own creativity in order to stick 100% to what the
next big trend will be, something I was never comfortable
with; especially when I found myself designing fabrics I
had no passion for. Disheartened and unable to fund
setting up on my own I worked in retail for a year before
joining the family business where I still am today. This is
ideal as it gives me the freedom to design when I want &
when I am commissioned to do so.

Please see my archive for examples of my previous work.