Royal School of Needlework Collaboration

Image: Work in Progress by Degree Students at the Royal School of Needlework © Royal School of Needlework and E.Tautz

Degree Students from the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) have joined forces with menswear label E. Tautz to help create the brand’s new Autumn Winter 2021 Collection. The RSN Degree Students brought to life images of two 19th century great textile manufacturers and their mills —Robert Owen and New Lanark, and Thomas Bazley and Barrow Bridge. Using the appliqué with detailed surface stitches and other hand embroidery techniques, the students used reclaimed fabric to re-create these industry leaders’ faces and their factories. The Collection was revealed during London Fashion Week.

Image:  One of the pieces in the AW21 E.Tautz Collection, embroidered by students at the Royal School of Needlework ©Royal School of Needlework and E.Tautz 

The E.Tautz AW21 Collection was inspired by a trip that Creative Director, and BBC’s Great British Sewing Bee judge, Patrick Grant took last year to the Isle of Skye. The spectacular rugged beauty of the landscapes combined with the rusting detritus of hundreds of years of human presence; tractors, cars stuck in peat bogs and old coaches turned into makeshift shelters, created a story in miniature, that is playing out across the planet in large scale. 

Image: Work in Progress by Degree Students at the Royal School of Needlework © Royal School of Needlework and E.Tautz

Patrick Grant explains: “The Collection is in part a musing on man’s intervention on the planet, on damage, on legacy, on failure. In thinking about how to reshape our textiles and clothing industry for the better and shape it to work for the world in which we now live, I am drawn back to the lessons of the best of our past. Things were made to last, everything cherished, everyone valued. Thank you to the Royal School of Needlework and its Degree Students who brought, not only incredible skill, but also wonderful knowledge and creativity to this process.” The BA (Hons) Hand Embroidery taught at the Royal School of Needlework is a three year course and students across all the years took part in the collaboration. Course leader Angie Wyman noted that messages of quality and longevity define the mission of the RSN — exemplified by the fact that the school will be celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2022. 

The RSN’s Degree in Hand Embroidery is a unique course taught in dedicated studios at Hampton Court Palace. Find out more about the course, and the project on the Royal School of Needlework website.

We discussed the Royal School of Needlework archives in Issue 70 Delicate, which is available to purchase as a digital copy.