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Designs by Natalie Gibson, from Central St Martins.
Natalie Gibson has been teaching at Central Saint Martins, in London, for over 40 years and, in that time, has taught and worked with some of the best known names within the design and fashion world. It’s Nat’s love of design, colour, art, world culture, people and animals (mainly cats, but also other ones) through which she finds her inspiration and enjoyment of life.
In her days as a student she went to Chelsea Art School and then on to the Royal College of Art. She received numerous prizes for her work, travelled around Europe, sold her designs and began teaching. It’s through her years of teaching that she, and many other CSM lecturers, have inspired so many students who have gone on to achieve success & acknowledgement within the world of design.
One of the most fun projects at CSM that Natalie helps to set up is for the 2nd year Fashion Print students, where they ‘design a dress for Grayson”. Grayson Perry is a very successful potter, artist &, these days, a stage performer & TV presenter, winner of the Turner Prize in 2003. The students have 5-6 weeks to make one outfit each for Grayson. The top 3 win a “Claire” made by Grayson and he buys the outfits that he likes and will wear.
The idea behind the exclusive range on offer is to use Natalie’s designs, past and present, to make beautiful, vibrant and colourful everyday clothing. We hope it’s clothing that you would not only love to wear but that will also put a smile on your face and those who see you in it - or lucky people to whom you are nice enough to give it! As Natalie herself knows, from regularly being stopped and told how fun and inspiring her clothes are (some other people’s designs too!), beautiful and colourful clothing just seems to make people smile and put them in a good mood. We hope that we succeed in doing exactly that, especially in the current situation that we all find ourselves in.
One of her favourite past times is to hunt down things that she finds interesting, inspiring, fun and normally colourful, in any sort of environment, from a car boot sale to an art gallery. Whether it’s a cold day in the UK or 100% humidity in India, there always seems to be time to visit a shop, store, factory, workshop, gallery or local craftsman or woman.
We hope that you find her designs and creations as fun as we do and feel free to send us your comments and thoughts.
Natalie's work goes beyond CSM. Annually she presents a mud print course in Jaipur, India, for a charity (Wonderful Workshops) that preserves local crafts. She travels to China to teach design courses, judges on students’ final shows at overseas colleges and continues to create new work of her own.
Natalie receiving her MBE for services to fashion in 2014 at Buckingham Palace.
Many famous designers, including Richard Quinn, Alexander McQueen, Sarah Burton, Phoebe Philo, Giles Deacon, John Galliano, Matthew Williamson and Gareth Pugh have all experienced Natalie's individual style and personality.
Richard Quinn
“Who is your hero?”
“My tutor at Central Saint Martins, Natalie Gibson. She was a really big print designer in the 1960’s & 70’s and her sense of colours is bang on, and she’s a really nice lady. She taught me everything I know about print.”
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