Award winning Fashion Textile Designer Elizabeth Walecki champions the connection between the body and textile. With an ability to be technically aware, Walecki is conscious in capturing the language of the body into knitwear that can enhance, conceal and flatter through considered yarn and stitch.
Having worked at high-end knitwear label Christina Seewald, Walecki learnt the essence of what goes into a luxury collection. As well as building a good rapport at Cobalt, whereby Walecki became commercially mindful and technically confident. These experiences influenced her own practice, were design narrative and is at the forefront of Walecki’s own collections.
Walecki’s design process takes inspiration from the personal connection our clothes have with our body. The art of dressing is an immediate form of self-expression, it is instinctive and an unceasing journey of visual storytelling. Placing the body amidst the context of literature, philosophy or scientific ideologies provides Walecki a platform to pose new questions. Interlinking theoretical perspectives from human society and philosophies into tactile outcomes helps to explore new ideas and construct new realities. To dress oneself is a universally accepted practice, and so when these questions are placed in garment form, it gives a visual explanation. This is fundamental in Walecki’s practice and causes a reason to create.
Projects
- OFFICE OF A BUSINESSWOMANA practical response to how the contemporary demands of a woman is changing in the work environment. There is often more expected of a woman to balance work and home life and so a product that can adapt to the needs of both was created. Viewing the body as a vessel to carry one’s ‘office’ saw a garment that can be used as a waterproof jacket with pockets and attachments for a purse, keys and travel cards inside the lining, but that can also be transformed into a bag when required. Allowing the u
- UNCERTAIN SELFExploring the persistent battle in which we face to reach utopia, triggered by our obscured self-perception. Using Sylvia Plath’s poem Mirror as a reference for initial visual research, I explored how one’s form can be altered through reflection, revealing and concealing in order to create the desired image we want to put out to the world.
- PRINCIPLES OF SCIENCE AND DRESS: MATTER, FORM AND MOTION.Placing the body amidst the language of science was the catalyst for the collection. Simplifying the principle states of matter into solid, liquid and gas, determines the structural elements of the knitted outcomes. Similar to the unaware entropic changes within our environment, we too are unmindful of the significance of the relation between our body and fabric, and what form follows because of it. Our relationship with our clothes, once worn, are reshaped through movement, being stretched, was
Work history
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Knitwear AssistantChristina Seewald
Vienna, AustriaInternship
•Working for a high end luxury Womenswear brand-Christina Seewald
•Setting up new factory bases in Italy.
•Involved in negotiating prices and terms with factories and buyers.
•Ensuring safe and ethical practice in factories.
•Yarn testing and in house production of knit samples.
•Construction of knitted garments for the SS20 presentation, see in Metal magazine and Vogue Germany.
•Created studio handbook.
•Performed garment technologist roles, check the development garments were to spec and quality.
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Knitwear AssistantCobalt
- Manchester, United KingdomFull Time
• Assisted on a customer account which generated over $2.36 million in revenue for AW19. Was involved in the entire process from customer meetings, designing an 80-piece knitwear collection, producing informative range sheets and communicating daily with the Far East teams.
• Achieved a 100% hit rate with the collection.
• Obtained a commercial handwriting with the ability to design with each customer’s aesthetic in mind. Demonstrated by many of my designs being selected for production, with a notable 52,000 units for a single style.
• Involved heavily with a wide range of customer meetings, would collaborate with Head Designer’s from National and International companies through live designing on the Shima during the meeting. Achieving 3D digital designs in response to their trend and direction, to streamline the selection process.
• Acquired advanced level certification on the Shima Seiki software. Able to efficiently design stitch qualities, knit programming and mesh mapping.
• Was solely in charge of the organisation of samples, sales board and postal system for the team.
Awards
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The Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters Bursary AwardThe Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters
One of the top Nine Knitwear Designers to be awarded with this Bursary.T
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The Roadley Awards: Supporting Innovation in SustainabilityThe Roadley Group
Award given in recognition to my commitment for more sustainable practices.+ Show more