Penny Hayhurst works in a textile studio in North London, specialising in designing commercial prints for the high street. A constant interest in textiles, particularly digital textiles, led her to explore a structural aesthetic in her design "I've always been interested in drawing and the textiles side of things rather than the construction". The inspiration for her t-shirt came from Trinity Buoy Wharf and its container city. A unique concept, she took its linear structure and used it as a starting point to create her "modular themed architectural t-shirt". The colour combinations were very "spring summer" according to Hayhurst, who loves working with pastels. It may come as no surprise that Carly Fulton and Mary Katrantzou are her favourite designers, for their use of graphics and digital printing. So where can she see herself in the future? "I'd love to have my own company or label in a few years". In the meantime, she's building up her portfolio, which is a compilation of everything she likes - "I'm interested in so many different things, I really like interiors, but I think my focus will probably be womenswear".

Kilyhan Khan studied Textiles and Fashion at the University of West London, focusing on print wear. She always looks to the Textiles Federation for new opportunities and when this competition came up, she knew she had to enter. She really enjoys designing prints, focusing more on womenswear but in the future she would like to expand into exploring menswear. Khan is interested in both digital and textural printing, but says it’s her inspiration that starts the whole process off. When she starts to develop a print or concept, she looks to photography and may then paint or collage on photoshop to create a design. She says her designs come from what she see's and her competition t-shirt design is an example of this. "I know London is really colourful, if you go to Camden or Portebello Road they have colour everywhere". She elaborates, "I didn't want to keep choosing red, I wanted to pick different colours and this was a palette that I really liked". She collected photos and took snippets of each to create her digital design saying it was fun because it "came naturally" to her and it certainly flows well. A symmetrically enhanced design, she explains she was "so surprised" when she found out she had won. Balmain, Givenchy and Erdem are her favourite designers, a mixed palette of styles showing her versatility and ability to take inspiration from a range of sources.

Two very talented designers, watch this space!

By: Jessica Duke
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