I first came across Flock when I was interviewing Florrie and Bill founder Amy Cawson, and she told me about a collaboration she had done using their fabric to upholster a chair. Flock works exclusively with recent graduates to create gorgeous printed textiles. Each designer is given a platform to showcase their talent, named as the creator of their designs, and given a royalty for every metre sold. Given my passion for discovering and championing new design talent, you can see why I was keen to catch up with founder and creative director, Jenny Wingfield to find out more.
What’s the most important thing to know about you?
I am passionate about finding new designs and designers to work with, to produce beautiful fabrics that will fill people’s homes with colour. It’s also important to know that I am not a textile designer. I trained in performance, which became set design and then interior design and here I am now – and very happy about it too!
Tell me how Flock came to be.
In a nutshell, Flock was developed to give recent graduates a platform and a way into the market while offering a new collection of designs that was very much needed. I worked at Liberty in the furnishing fabrics department and saw so much crossover there was between the big design houses – there seemed to be a gap in the market for a new fabric collection that offered something different and exciting – something not too trend-led. After visiting my first New Designers show, Flock came about as an idea to bring the fresh new work to market. Flock was a reaction to the fact that young designers are under-represented in today’s market and I know from experience how hard it is once you leave an arts degree to create your own collection and survive as a designer in your own right.
Where does the name come from?
The name captures the essence of the business and reflects the way we work – a collective, a ‘flock’ of designers. It conjures the image of birds and taking flight, beginning a design journey. It is also a textiles term for creating velvet embossed fabrics which is a nod to the world we work in and brings everything back to textiles.
What inspires your work?
I am constantly inspired by the energy and enthusiasm of the talented designers and collaborators I work with. It’s hard not to feel inspired after a meeting discussing colour and pattern and it is a hugely supportive network that makes anything seem possible. I am inspired by originality and finding new work. These can often be just a sketch, a forgotten doodle or collage in a sketchbook that can be transformed into a glorious fabric pattern.
How do you choose the featured designers?
Through visiting universities and graduate degree shows and taking time to delve through sketch books and pull out exciting ideas and chat with designers. As well as having fantastic work, it is hugely important that the designers have passion and enthusiasm for what they are doing – these make for the most exciting people to work with.
Once an interesting design, sketch or collage has been found that I can visualise translating into a textile, the next stage is to work together with the designer and the printers to play with scale, colour and cloth, sampling lots of different options until we settle on the final printed fabric. This takes a lot of time and is a very collaborative process; the designer is involved at every stage, which is something I really enjoy.
More recently, Instagram has proven an invaluable tool for finding new work. This is such a fast-paced and personal platform that ideas are quite often just quickly flung onto. These images of design ideas may never have been intended as a fabric pattern but to me they are thought provoking as a starting point and worth developing.
Tell me about a really good day and a really bad day in the life of Jenny Wingfield.
A really good day for me involves introducing people to Flock. I love meeting new stockists, promoting the designers and getting excited about the collection together. As I am not one of the designers myself, I find it easier to promote the designs. It’s always easier talking about someone else’s work. Finding new designers is one of my favourite parts of the job too. I love seeing work in its raw state and the challenge of transforming it into fabric.
A bad day is when I am so busy stuck in admin and emails that I can’t think straight or if something goes wrong at the printers. Using natural fibres means there can often be a lot of variables and sometimes issues that are out of my control, but you just have to go with it, be patient and make it work.
What defines good design?
I don’t believe there is a specific formula to define good design. To me it should be elegant and thought provoking and reject the idea of beige in every sense of the word. But above all it should be original; authenticity is crucial.
What are you most proud of?
I am really proud of the Flock model, our ethos and our way of working. Supporting recent graduates through a royalty system and raising their profile as individual designers through printing their name on the selvedge of the fabric is key. It’s not all about the money. It’s about the exposure and offering a leg up into the commercial world of design.
What advice would you give to an aspiring designer?
Take advice, listen, develop and experiment. Be brave, be authentic and try not to be intimidated. Knowing the market is essential as this will give you confidence in knowing your worth and valuing your work. It can be so easy to fall into the trap of undervaluing yourself, your skills and your time and therefore selling something for less than you should. Research and get to know the market and this will give you confidence in knowing you have your prices right and don’t settle for anything less. Also, learn how to do your tax returns!
And finally, what’s your favourite colour?
That is impossible to answer!
Further reading for the especially geeky:
- interview :: feist forest
- interview :: emma thomas
- interview :: effie koukia
- interview :: dome studio
What a great concept! I am often looking for fabrics for my sewing projects and have been so disappointed with the similarities across the board. Often I think, when will something new come out? These designs are original and energetic. I just love the whole idea behind Flock and the beautiful fabrics you are producing. Thanks so much for sharing this!