Isabelle Hill is a Mixed Media Designer and Fashion Creator. She adds texture to fabrics to make them more exciting and tactile. Her chosen methods include digital embroidery using traditional threads and bobbin relief, hand embroidery, laser cutting, manipulation of fabrics and acid dye screen printing.
It is important for Isabelle to create a strong collection of drawings exploring colour mixing and shapes. She also studies traditional embroidery techniques to give her inspiration for new ideas and designs. She pays great attention to detail ensuring her end products are created to the highest of standards. To complement the high levels of craftsmanship, she predominantly uses natural materials to give the final samples a more luxurious finish.
Isabelle graduated from the Arts University Bournemouth in 2017, with a BA in Textiles Design. She has freelanced at Ralph and Russo on numerous occasions whilst studying for her BA.
Projects
- Rising DepthsRising Depths explored the how climate change is causing sea levels to raise and as a result rocks eroding to reveal fossils. This project is where Isabelle started to distort her drawings of fossils to reveal new shapes and then create them through embellishments, hand and CAD embroidery, laser cutting and a small amount of digital print. For this project Isabelle used organic cotton to link with the theme of climate change. Along with lighter materials, to give a delicate feel to Isabelle’s textiles, which is an aesthetic she strives for in her work.
- DistortionIsabelle’s final project at university explores the man made world merging with the natural world. Inspired by the vivid colours and shapes of oil spills, Isabelle painted floras from Kew Gardens and local florists, using her research. To achieve the fluidity of the oil spills and to create exciting shapes Isabelle has distorted her paintings on the photocopier. Isabelle applied the embroidery skills she learnt working at a haute couture atelier, along with digital embroidery, manipulating fabrics, dyeing and digital print. As the samples that Isabelle has created are for winter she mainly used heavier weight fabrics, such as wool barathea and leather, along with a few lightweight fabrics, such as silk organza, which give the samples more fluidity alike to the oil spills. The fabrics choices for the samples were important, as the majority are natural fibres to give a more luxurious feel to the collection and to coincide with the time invested in the delicate techniques applied.
Work history
Embroiderer
- London, United KingdomFreelance
Interning and working at a haute couture fashion house gave Isabelle the experience into how an atelier functions, the techniques used and the fabric shops they source materials from. It was exceedingly beneficial working at the atelier, as Isabelle leant how to hand embroider and bead dresses that are sent to clients and attended Paris Haute Couture week. Whilst in Paris Isabelle was chosen to go backstage with the team, from this experience it has helped Isabelle to work under high pressure and with speed. The skills Isabelle learnt during her time at Ralph and Russo were extremely professional and Isabelle will be able to apply them to other aspects of Textiles in the future. It was extremely rewarding for Isabelle to be asked back on numerous occasions, as it has helped Isabelle develop her embroidery skills further and see how a company evolves throughout their collections.
Skills
- Hand Embroidery
- Digital Embroidery
- Dyeing Fabric
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Illustrator
- Hand Embellishing
Education
BA (hons.) Textile DesignArts University Bournemouth
- Bournemouth, United Kingdom
Art and Design Foundation Diploma
- High Wycombe, United Kingdom