Agnès B (left) and Texprint’s Chairman Barbara Kennington (right) present Harriet Toogood with her prize.

Harriet Toogood wins the inaugural prize for her superb textile designs which were created with 60% or more Merino wool. The prize has been created in support of The Campaign for Wool with patron HRH The Prince of Wales and honours the inventive use of wool in textile design.

The prize was judged by Douglas Cordeaux, managing director of Fox Brothers & Co, and Keith Walker, managing director of Linton Tweeds –- and presented by the renowned
designer Agnès B.

They selected University of Brighton graduate Harriet as the winner out of the 24 shortlisted designers taking part in the Texprint programme this year, all of whom are presenting their work at Indigo.

She received £1,000 in prize money at today’s event, which was presented by Woolmark’s Peter Ackroyd. As part of her prize, she will have access to the expertise of The Woolmark Company and its global support network.

Speaking on behalf of the judges, Keith Walker said they selected Harriet because of her creative use of Merino wool and other materials.

He said: “As a weaver I recognise what she has created: she uses different weaves and a combination of materials - wool included - to create something very unusual but also practical, it was what I was hoping to find in a winner and it’s what she’s achieved.”

The judges also commended weaver Amy Jo Lewis for her excellent work.

For more information or photography, go to the Texprint website www.texprint.org.uk or contact gill@gghq.co.uk +44 (0)20 7250 0589.

Harriet Toogood, Woolmark Texprint winner - Profile

I was encouraged and motivated to study textiles at university because of my experiences whilst travelling in India, during my gap year, where I met people on my journey who were able to introduce me to weavers and printers. Seeing these artisans at work, firsthand, was inspiring.

I have just graduated from the University of Brighton in Woven Textiles (MDes Textiles with Business Studies). Since completing university I have been part of Texprint 2011; this entails being one of twenty-four textile graduates from around the UK, showing my work at an exhibition in London, where I was fortunate to win the Texprint Space Prize 2011. The prize consequently took me to Shanghai to show my work at the yarn trade show Spinexpo. I have also shown my work in Paris, at Indigo (Premier Vision), where I was the awarded the Woolmark Prize.

In November I begin a six month placement at Camira Fabrics, based in Yorkshire. My role will be an assistant woven textile designer, working in the development side of woven furnishing fabrics, this will be a new challenge for me as my previous interests have been primarily fashion fabrics; I am looking forward to learning a new side of woven fabrics.

Information about my work

The Natural and the Plastic

Bold, bright colours of farmyard machinery and plastic containers sit against the backdrop of natural soft, subtle hues of a countryside landscape. Using the farmyard and its surroundings for inspiration, the project is an exploration of the ways in which organic and inorganic materials work together within textiles.

The project explores weaving natural yarn, specifically wool, in conjunction with plastic materials taken directly from the farmyard and everyday life, examining the suitability of the two within a fabric.