On Teaching

I’ve been teaching college and art school projects for many years, and have had the privilege to work with students at Central St Martins, the University of Westminster, and the London College of Fashion, among others. Over the years past students have gone on to do brilliant things, and it’s lovely to see designers move from school to the wider world. Teaching is something I really enjoy, and makes a nice change of pace from the development, production, and logistics of running a business.

Recently I was kindly invited by an old friend, Mitch Frank, to apply to be the University of Wisconsin-Madison Phyllis Huffman Fresh Ideas Design Scholar for 2025. I got the post and spent a week in Madison, part of which included giving a public talk about my work. There’s a link to it here.

The talk covers my approach to research and design, and there are some interesting questions at the end which I try my best to answer. It’s quite a long video! So not much more to this newsletter except to mention the Type 650 Studio Apron, which I wear to protect my shirt against ink and indigo while I’m at the Stores. It’s a one-piece design with straps sewn onto each end of the body with a jeans waistband folder. The chest is lined with an extra panel of cotton ticking and there are two patch pockets at the front. It’s cut short, to the waist, so that jeans pockets remain accessible.