‘Wall of Gold’

Between January and July 2024, I was sponsored by CHANEL & The King’s Foundation Metiers d’Art Embroidery Fellowship in Partnership with le19M. During this fellowship, I took inspiration from Highgrove Gardens – visiting a few times over winter.

Inspired by ecclesiastical stone originally designed for Hereford Cathedral, my embroidery for a halter neck top combined the patterns of the church stones into a new design created by my continuous line drawing style. Using deadstock materials from my mentor Maison Lesage, embracing sustainability, skill-sharing, and British heritage is at the forefront of my practice.

Character and charm emanate from Highgrove Gardens Wall of Gifts – a collection of masonry students’ ecclesiastical stone carved donations – fragmented and individual – built into a wall. The patterns found close up and from a distance inspired Alice’s collection, finding inspiration in the renewed visual joy each sculpture had next to another and from this, her inspiration of the gardens alter ego.

Inspired by the wall, Alice has imitated its design with patches of silk applique, separated by embroidered trims that mimic her drawings of the garden. Using these materials and techniques Alice has personified a character of the garden in couture embroidery and has interpreted her work to fit a design muse embodying this theme.

Responding to the inspiration the Wall of Gifts Alice has embroidered her collection with recurring motifs found within the walls design. Expressing a single motif in variations that explore the creative boundaries of couture embroidery.

Discovering the garden in winter made clear the Wall of Gifts as the motivation of Alice’s project. Through repeated visits to the stumpery, the evolving season highlighted the permanence of the wall against the emerging spring flowers, inspiring many opportunities to reflect and draw in her line-work style.

Sponsored by CHANEL and supported by Maison Lesage Alice has united her style with the fashion sensibilities of both houses, creating by the close of the Fellowship a couture fashion outcome that encapsulates embroidery excellence.