The award winning work
A COSTUME designer from Warrington has won a major national prize – using the ancient art of “goldworking.”
Emily Spreadborough, who graduated last year with a BA in costume with textiles, has been awarded the Hand and Lock prize for her creation of The Woman.
Since graduating, Emily has developed an impressive portfolio of achievements, highlighting her exceptional talent and ability to go above and beyond.
Throughout the duration of her course and early years of industry experience, she has discovered a passion for creating the new and the bold which encourages her to explore how costume can be combined with technology.
This has since opened up doors of possibilities, as she has been involved in creative costume design for music videos, contemporary costume and theatre production.
On her course, Emily was given the opportunity to practice the dwindling art of goldworking and chose to incorporate it into her work. She also took on a three-month placement with Hand and Lock, a world renowned producer of hand embroidery since 1767.
Goldwork is the art of embellishing fabrics with metal spun wires – a specialised skill by today’s standards.
Emily said: “The goldwork I did on my University projects is now something I like to think I specialise in. I used it a lot on the costume that won the Hand and Lock prize.”
The prize is a prestigious award within the industry. It was launched to encourage the use of embroidery in textiles, and each year attracts more than 500 entries from designers hoping to gain recognition.
