Designs On You by Patricia McLoughlin
Jessie Hiscock
Jessie with fabric design
When you go clothes shopping you may be drawn to the designs on the fabric but when 26-year-old Jessie Hiscock goes shopping she is likely to see print designs she has actually drawn.
Jessie now works for Whiston & Wright who specialise in printed textiles for fashion and it all began when her Twickenham secondary school teacher told her she should go to art school.
“Art lessons were always fun, chatting and drawing, the atmosphere was lovely but I didn’t know if my work was any good until she made that surprise comment,” says Jessie.The school had a reputation for creative art and having secured an A* Art GCSE and an A at A level, Jessie hauled her portfolio to Wimbledon to apply for a foundation course. “I was accepted and began to discover what hard work really was,” says Jessie. It was at Wimbledon that she received a grounding in fine art, graphics, sculpture, textiles, fashion and photography before specialising in textiles.
The quality of her work secured her an on the spot degree course offer from Winchester . “I had heard good things about them and they had a really fantastic course. The tutor who interviewed me was lovely and when I asked to defer to go travelling they agreed on condition I brought back work done while I was away.” And so Jessie slaved away in menial roles until she had enough money to embark on the student route with a couple of friends. In India, Australia, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand she did weaves with local fabrics and yarns, collages with found materials and sketched the places and people.
Winchester was a whole new world and a tough one. While student friends on other courses put in some five hours of lectures a week, Jessie was in daily from nine to five and working away sometimes around the clock.
“First we did the three textile design disciplines: print, knit and weave and then I opted for printed textiles,” says Jessie.
To print on cloth called for lots of drawing, research and paper design. “You learn about screen printing, dyeing fabrics and heat transfer, a big heat press where you paint with dyes onto paper and it prints onto the fabric. I loved it!”When she graduated Jessie’s designs were featured, with those of other young designers, at London ’s Business Design Centre and then, through her university, her degree work was sold.
The university had helped her secure a job in New York and so she did not chase up openings on offer but to her immense dismay the American company folded, she never crossed the Atlantic and, worse still, felt she had missed the boat for other jobs.
After a stint in a north London studio, Jessie was delighted to secure a designer’s job with Whiston & Wright.“It’s very different to university, where you pick your own theme and project. We look at the season’s trends from the catwalk, go on research trips around big London stores and need to reflect current trends. But the company really does create original designs, understands people’s strengths and encourages creativity.” The first time Jessie saw one of her own designs in the marketplace she was in a House of Fraser store in her local High Street in Richmond on Thames . “I did a double take and said, ‘Oh my God, that’s mine!’ It was a fantastic feeling.”
Jessie is more used to seeing her work on display now, “I think the last time was in Ted Baker and I really liked the dress but sometimes it takes me by surprise, like when I was in a swimming pool and a woman was wearing a swimsuit with my fabric design.
“At work we have all the magazines and supplements and people say, ‘Isn’t that one of yours?’ or ‘That one’s mine.’ But the pleasure doesn’t really fade and I still get a buzz seeing my work.
“At the moment I’m learning. It’s important to keep improving, there are so many talented people out there. I don’t know exactly where the future lies but I always want to design and create. I feel very lucky to be doing what I love. I didn’t think I was really any good until my teacher advised me to go to art school. I suppose that’s where it started.”And seeing the light in her eyes as she describes her work you know this is still just the beginning.
Wed, 04/16/2008 - 17:26 — Tricia