A Temperley signature, embroidery is a focal point of our Autumn Winter 2022 offering; fastidious workmanship, threaded through the collection to create pure artistry.

Mirroring the playful prints, whimsical yet intricate motifs decorate the designs; prairie blooms, rockabilly hearts, rodeo hardware.

Playing off one another for clever juxtapositions that are pure Alice — a surreal fusion, embodying the spirit of ‘50s Americana with a touch of rodeo.

Here, Alice explains how the embellishment comes to fruition…

What is the process behind the embroidery?

‘The start of our textiles design process often starts with painting; for stitch embroidery, we use our hand-painted elements and design new swatch artworks in-house. We then send these designs to our embroiderers in India and work with them directly to translate the ideas into 3D actualisations.’

‘The team will trace our designs and punch holes through the paper onto the fabric to indicate the lines they will need to follow for the embroidery. They will create the shaded elements by hand using a satin stitch embroidery machine.’

‘Requiring artistry, finesse and skill, the embroiderer applies the stitchwork in a similar method to the actual painting process; blending different thread colours together to replicate the artwork as closely as possible.’

‘Upon receiving these back, we will then engineer the artwork to the garment patterns and re-send to get prototypes made up. We design colourways at this stage and then repeat the process once we have received and fitted the prototypes in our favourites, so our final samples are the best representation of our initial concept they can be!’

There’s such an eclectic assortment of designs — where did the inspiration come from?

‘This concept of ‘mixing’ eclectic motifs came from looking at youth culture in 1950s America and thinking of the badges, pins and emblems different subcultures used to express themselves.’

‘We also looked at beautiful Dakota and Sioux beadwork for a similar influence; this idea of symbols being used repetitively and ornately to tell stories and denote membership to one tribe or another.’

How long does it take?

'The process of development is over a period of about six months; the initial research planning and painting of elements takes about a week, designing into the styles and engineering embroideries takes a further day or two each time we refit the styles, and the entire embroidery process takes about a week before the garment can be stitched together.’

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