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| Via VFS |
Ruth Green’s exhibition stand is a rich display of woolly loveliness that instantly draws you into its warmth. You find yourself automatically stroking the wool, letting your fingers guide you and revel in tactile delight.
The collection offers a differing range of eye-catching knits. There are jumpers, long skirts and jumper dresses overwhelmed by larger than life geometric hand knitted intarsia designs in a colour scheme that includes blues mixed with bold blocks of black, grey, caramel and red. Ruth explains, “The designs are inspired by traditional patchwork quilts and I did some travelling in the middle-east where I found further inspiration in Islamic tiles.”
These soft pieces are brilliantly contrasted with over-sized, black chunky jumpers. The collection also includes felt jackets made from delicate lamb’s wool that Ruth has heat rolled to create a super soft material that is incredibly workable too. Ruth is a maestro of her chosen material, exploiting all of its potential with diverse and inspiring results.
The garments are slouchy and easy to wear as Ruth favours simple shapes and clean lines. However, closer inspection reveals whimsical details such as thumbholes or a dress that is excessively long, disclosing Ruth’s quirky side. There is certainly something of the English eccentric in her work and Ruth is a passionate advocate of British design and industry. Indeed, all of Ruth’s wool is British and attentively hand spun and knitted using traditional methods in Derbyshire. They look cozy and inviting but striking and unforgettable. Wearing a jumper will never be the same again!
Ruth has already built up an impressive CV having studied BA Womenswear Knitwear at Ravensbourne before going on to study MA Fashion Knitwear at the RCA. Since graduating she has won numerous awards including a BFC competition to design a capsule collection for Warehouse with a showcase at LFW. She currently designs for Skunkfunk and British wool manufacturers, Rowan alongside her own collection. Phew! Ruth now plans to sleep, dust down her knitting machines and look to SS13 which will be inspired by Italian spinners and their use of lightweight viscose.
