Ashley McDow -
Printed Textiles Designer in London

I am a professional printed textiles and fashion designer based in London, currently working as Assistant Designer at  Duchamp London.

I am a confident, energetic and ambitious person, which is reflected in my work. I produce exciting, textural and innovative designs incorporating bright colours and embellishment techniques. My designs are influenced from traditional hand crafted textiles with a modern interpretation.

I am very passionate about printing and the techniques involved to produce a design. I am devoted to creating textural, eye-catching designs that combine many techniques. Even though I am continuously experimenting, adapting, changing and reworking my designs to achieve the best result possible and to gain the most out of my course, I still want more. I feel I am continuously growing and there is still a lot more room to expand.

What drives my creativity…?

Having been born in Saudi Arabia, with western parents and background, I am fascinated with eastern countries, from India to Thailand. I have been surrounded by their culture from furniture, rugs, shish pipes, vases and garments, which have all had an influence on my life and beliefs.

From being surrounded by many cultural items and hearing of fascinating stories of foreign countries by my parents, throughout my life, I have become interested in the fast growing multi cultural society we live in. The idea that each person with a different culture can bring something to a different society or even just influence a single person, to create something all together different. Whether it’s colours, techniques, new phrases, beliefs or a way of life.

I have visited a variety of countries in search of traditional influences to combine in my own life and work. Some of the ideals and inspiration I have absorbed are; the laid back, relaxed atmosphere combined with intricate masses of bamboo tattoos of the Thai culture. The historical background, exotic fruits, animals and ethnic bold jewelry of North Africa.

I wonder at the mystery behind the Abaya and veil of Arab tradition from my visits to Dubai, especially as, in my opinion, it conflicts with the glitter of the gold souk (a market place filled with masses of gold jewelry). From my dissertation research I find adorning the body is a way of attracting attention to oneself whereas the veil is deliberately worn to hide the face and hair to protect the woman. I visited and worked for a short time in New York, which introduced me to a very fast paced, glamorous, larger than life attitude to living.

My dreams and aspirations…

All this information from different societies has lead me to want to incorporate it in my work. Being brought up in a modern society and living in London has brought to my attention the ever-growing multi cultural world. I want my work make an artistic contribution to this amalgamation of people within one place. I want to find a way to make all societies feel comfortable living side by side, integrating and mixing freely with one another through artistic media without conflict.

I think fashion can contribute to a relaxing of the barriers between cultures and provide a common ground for both young and old to reshape attitudes and behaviour towards one another. People of western societies are modern and want change while older traditions, though culturally necessary for identity, may benefit from modernisation.

I am continually developing this burning desire to create a cultural bridge through fashion and intend to apply the knowledge and inspirations I develop through my Internships and experiences.

Other Inspirations and Ideas…

I have been considering my previouse thoughts on creating a cultural bridge through fashion. I have decided that my research and ideas need to start where fashion originated from… Tradition.

My BA degree, commercial and life experiences have helped me to develop as a designer. My future objective is to further my ambition to design and create a collection, which demonstrates my full potential. Whilst my commercial experience has proved to be invaluable, it is subject to the design constraints of one market.

I am very passionate about traditional printing techniques and their importance to textiles and society. They should be celebrated and preserved, within the context of modern fashion. This is because the traditional techniques used to produce fabrics create identity and without identity there would be no diversity. Methods such as Ikat, indigo, resist dying, embroidery and block printing exemplify the types of printing which I have previously investigated. I value the imperfections created by hand made textiles, because I believe these elements make every design unique.

I wish to explore these traditional methods whilst incorporating modern techniques. For example, the combination of modern digital printing with detailed hand embroidery; or machine woven cloths followed by hand screen prints. I am interested in unusual combinations and I intend to achieve my goals by experimenting, adapting, changing and reworking my ideas and designs.

My passion for design, culture and tradition was inspired at an early age, having spent my early years in the Middle East I have been influenced by exotic cultures reflected by artifacts from carpets and shish pipes to highly embroidered garments. This cultural diversity has had an impact on my design style and beliefs. One element of these cultural influences that is most prominent within my work is colour. Exotic countries and their cultures excite me with their abundance of colour and design variance. I am inspired by Basso and Brook, Dreis Van Noten and Ederm, whose work reflects bright, rich colour and pattern. These are the type of people I aspire to, because I too have a desire to create textured, eye-catching designs that exhibit these fundamentals. I intend to use colour to its full potential; capturing an exotic luxurious feel by studying natural elements, cultural objects and maximizing the experience of collaborating with fellow designers.