Textiles students Hartej and Peytie talk to us about their experience at Pitti Filati

In this interview, we sit down with Hartej Singh and Peytie Slater - both students from the BA (Hons) Fashion Textiles: Knit course at London College of Fashion, to discuss their experience creating garments and fabrics which were displayed at the prestigious Pitti Filati event in Italy. From hands-on craftsmanship to industry networking, Hartej offers an inspiring look into the opportunities available to aspiring designers and why competitions like "Feel the Yarn" are essential for shaping a creative career.

Why did you enter the competition?

Hartej: I entered because it seemed like a good introduction into how the industry works. It also seemed to hold a lot of value in what it could offer. Between the chance to showcase my work, having a chance to go to Italy for Pitti Filati, and network with the Italian yarn industry, I assumed it couldn’t hurt to see what would happen.

Peytie: I entered the Feel the Yarn competition mainly because I wanted to learn more about the industry of Italian yarns. I knew that we had the opportunity to pair up with an Italian yarn spinner, so making that connection and working with them was my main motivation for entering.

Can you tell us about the work you entered into the competition?

Hartej: I created a couture knitwear ballgown with post production hand manipulation techniques such as hand cut knitted strips and hand sewn darts. The dress consists of two parts, a stoll programmed cut and sewn top with sandwich trims, and a skirt knitted on the 7gg dubied which was hand sewn together. The inspiration for the dress comes from the end of first term, when I unfortunately became bedridden with an illness that had me fall a month behind on my uni work. Rather than crying over frustration, I became fascinated with the idea of ailment and body distortion, which lead to a glamorous yet grotesque outcome.

Peytie: I entered a design which was taken from my term 1 project, but a design that I also knew that I wanted to carry into my final major project. I developed a triangle pleated technique, as well as a tucking and fringing development for the skirt. I wanted to leave a lot of room for development both technically and creatively, as I wanted to work harmoniously with the yarns I was going to be paired with.