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A touring exhibition from The Fashion and Textile Museum, celebrating the work of influential design company, Designers Guild.
Founded by Tricia Guild OBE, Designers Guild started life in 1970 as a small section of a single shop in Chelsea’s King’s Road. The brand has since evolved and grown into a global enterprise whose products have changed the way we view colour, pattern and texture in our homes. The rich riot of colours and patterns of Designers Guild will be exhibited across both The Gallery and City Space at The Arc.
Out of the Blue unravels Tricia Guild’s unique and creative approach, focusing in on her inspiration, her intuitive design methodology and the techniques, processes and materials used. Frustrated with the lack of truly contemporary fabrics and wallpapers for interiors, Tricia’s vision, initially created alongside Robin Guild, was to create a lifestyle. Tricia demonstrated how to put the different elements of a room together; how colour, pattern, texture and form can combine to create a harmonious space.
Designers Guild is perhaps best known for florals and botanicals, but plain fabrics in a multitude of shades and textures, alongside a vast range of geometric and abstract designs, are also vital to the mix. Tricia is renowned for her confident and vivid use of colour, but the natural and neutral palette enjoys equal prominence in the company’s collections. With a broad and engaging array of designs on display, this exhibition will showcase the variety and constant re-invention central to the ethos of Designers Guild.
Look out for additional content and behind-the-scenes insights for this exhibition on our digital publication, Culture on Call
Out of the Blue - Celebrating the work of Designers Guild is a touring exhibition from The Fashion and Textile Museum. We're delighted to be working with this fantastic organisation again, having previously hosted Orla Kiely: A Life in Pattern.
About The Fashion and Textile Museum
The Fashion and Textile Museum is the only museum in the UK dedicated to showcasing contemporary fashion and textile design. The museum is committed to presenting varied, creative and engaging exhibitions, alongside an exciting selection of educational courses, talks, events and workshops. In place of a permanent collection is a diverse programme of temporary exhibitions, displaying a broad range of innovative fashion and textiles from designers and makers around the world.
The Fashion and Textile Museum was founded by in 2003, by icon of British design, Dame Zandra Rhodes. Today, the Museum is operated by Newham College, London – one of Europe’s largest further education colleges. Situated in the heart of fashionable Bermondsey Village, the Museum is housed in a beautiful and distinctive building, designed by renowned Mexican architect, Ricardo Legorreta.
Recent exhibitions at the museum have included The World of Anna Sui, Josef Frank Patterns – Furniture - Painting, Orla Kiely: A Life in Pattern and Zandra Rhodes: 50 Years of Fabulous.
About Tricia Guild
Tricia Guild OBE is a British designer and the founder and Creative Director of Designers Guild. She is a Winchester School of Art, Royal College of Art and Loughborough University alumna.
Tricia has collaborated with artists and designers from other disciplines including Howard Hodgkin (1986); Kaffe Fassett (Kaffe’s Pots designed by Kaffe Fassett for Designers Guild 1993-5) and more recently Ralph Lauren and Christian Lacroix. She has designed collections under license for The Royal Collection that are directly inspired by the magnificent interiors and furnishings of the British Royal Family’s residences.
The exhibition charts the transformation of Tricia Guild – from an ambitious young woman in business, to the influential creative force behind a global brand. Out of the Blue will celebrate the work and thought processes of this important and influential designer and reveal her highly successful, innovative and unconventional approach to design.
