Clothing / Craft / Textiles / Illustration / Folklore / Dolls / Ceramics

Hello I’m Maddie - I studied Fashion Design at Edinburgh College of Art and received a first class degree. Since graduating in 2017 I’ve worked in a number of roles within the fashion industry - these have included interning at Vivienne Westwood, teaching at Kingston College of Art, working as a sustainability researcher and junior footwear designer at Pentland brands, partnering with JNBY in China to create a capsule collection, and freelancing.

I was awarded the Catwalk Textiles prize and Dame Vivienne Westwood Ethical Award during Graduate Fashion Week 2017, have showcased my work at London Fashion Week and at Dutch Design Week (2018), and was the winner of the Redress International Sustainable Design Award in 2019. Following the Redress award, I took a three month position at REVERB in Hangzhou, China, where I created an up-cycled capsule collection for release on the Chinese market.

I had made a small name for myself as someone up-and-coming in the sustainability scene - my goal was to dispel the perception that eco-fashion had to be self-serious or minimal. However, It became clear to me that the ideas and the stories I wanted to explore were not at all suited to the fashion Industry, at least not in any financially viable way, and from 2020 I no longer saw a place for myself there.

My work is concept and story lead, playing with symbolism, colour, character, silhouette, and texture. I like to search for ways to cross the boundaries between illustration, costume, craft and fine art. Up-cycling is central to my practice along with themes of femininity, folklore, ecology and ethics.

I’m naturally a maker. I’m invested in the idea of illustration through making. I have recently begun exploring doll/puppet making, and have used these dolls to create compositions which convey narrative. I am drawn to imagery that is tangible and invites people into uncanny (and often fantastical) worlds.

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be a student on the Illustration with Authorial Practice MA at Falmouth University (2022-24). I was attracted to the course due to it’s interdisciplinary nature and the freedom it offers.

I plan to create work that weaves elements of folklore and craft from all over the world together… and generally just make it up as I go along. I wont necessarily be abandoning fashion, just moving and evolving.

Open to commissions and collaborations!

Get in touch at maddiewilliamsdesign@gmail.com