Charlotte Carter
BA (Hons) Textiles in Practice
Postcards from Slovenia
I am a passionate textile designer specialising in surface pattern design for fashion. My work is inspired by playful mark making, colour and my love for the beautiful natural world. My collections are varied in style, concept and colour palettes and celebrate a hand-painted handwriting that can be adapted to a variety of outcomes. My process also involves using hand drawn fashion illustrations for visualising different scales, fabrics, feelings and how collections sit together.
Creating an in-depth concept and story is a key aspect of my print design process, and I enjoy gathering inspiration from personal travels, feelings, and world-wide influences, such as the pandemic. I believe creating a unique narrative adds an important element of deeper meaning to my collections, which over this year have explored themes such as ‘what brings us joy?’, ‘New Femininity’, and the feelings of freedom that a trip to Slovenia brought to me after lockdown.
My final project ‘Postcards from Slovenia’ celebrates feelings of liberation, pure elation and the hidden beauties Slovenia has to offer, through colour experimentation and scribbly, playful illustrations. The motifs in this print design collection celebrate Slovenia’s mountain range, the architecture of Ljubljana, native lily species and the beautiful mosaic walls of a cultural arts centre, Metelkova. I contextualised my designs in a high fashion context through expressive illustrations of people wearing oversized garments that are full of overlapping and clashingly colourful prints.
