Hampshire Cultural Trust is proud to present Out of the Blue, a touring exhibition from The Fashion and Textile Museum, celebrating the work of influential design company, Designers Guild.

Founded by Tricia Guild OBE, Designers Guild started life in 1970 as a small section of a single shop in Chelsea’s King’s Road. The brand has since evolved and grown into a global enterprise whose products have changed the way we view colour, pattern and texture in our homes. The rich riot of colours and patterns of Designers Guild will be exhibited across both The Gallery and City Space at The Arc.

Out of the Blue unravels Tricia Guild’s unique and creative approach, focusing in on her inspiration, her intuitive design methodology and the techniques, processes and materials used. Frustrated with the lack of truly contemporary fabrics and wallpapers for interiors, Tricia’s vision, initially created alongside Robin Guild, was to create a lifestyle. Tricia demonstrated how to put the different elements of a room together; how colour, pattern, texture and form can combine to create a harmonious space.

Designers Guild is perhaps best known for florals and botanicals, but plain fabrics in a multitude of shades and textures, alongside a vast range of geometric and abstract designs, are also vital to the mix. Tricia is renowned for her confident and vivid use of colour, but the natural and neutral palette enjoys equal prominence in the company’s collections. With a broad and engaging array of designs on display, this exhibition will showcase the variety and constant re-invention central to the ethos of Designers Guild.

Look out for additional content and behind-the-scenes insights for this exhibition on our digital publication, Culture on Call

Out of the Blue - Celebrating the work of Designers Guild is a touring exhibition from The Fashion and Textile Museum. We're delighted to be working with this fantastic organisation again, having previously hosted Orla Kiely: A Life in Pattern.


About The Fashion and Textile Museum

The Fashion and Textile Museum is the only museum in the UK dedicated to showcasing contemporary fashion and textile design. The museum is committed to presenting varied, creative and engaging exhibitions, alongside an exciting selection of educational courses, talks, events and workshops. In place of a permanent collection is a diverse programme of temporary exhibitions, displaying a broad range of innovative fashion and textiles from designers and makers around the world.

The Fashion and Textile Museum was founded by in 2003, by icon of British design, Dame Zandra Rhodes. Today, the Museum is operated by Newham College, London – one of Europe’s largest further education colleges. Situated in the heart of fashionable Bermondsey Village, the Museum is housed in a beautiful and distinctive building, designed by renowned Mexican architect, Ricardo Legorreta.

Recent exhibitions at the museum have included The World of Anna Sui, Josef Frank Patterns – Furniture - Painting, Orla Kiely: A Life in Pattern and Zandra Rhodes: 50 Years of Fabulous.

About Tricia Guild

Tricia Guild OBE is a British designer and the founder and Creative Director of Designers Guild. She is a Winchester School of Art, Royal College of Art and Loughborough University alumna.

Tricia has collaborated with artists and designers from other disciplines including Howard Hodgkin (1986); Kaffe Fassett (Kaffe’s Pots designed by Kaffe Fassett for Designers Guild 1993-5) and more recently Ralph Lauren and Christian Lacroix. She has designed collections under license for The Royal Collection that are directly inspired by the magnificent interiors and furnishings of the British Royal Family’s residences.

The exhibition charts the transformation of Tricia Guild – from an ambitious young woman in business, to the influential creative force behind a global brand. Out of the Blue will celebrate the work and thought processes of this important and influential designer and reveal her highly successful, innovative and unconventional approach to design.

Events Programme

The Arc is hosting a busy programme of family events, courses, lectures and tours in the context of the exhibition:

Workshops for Children  

  • 4 - 25 - 25 Aug 2022 at The Arc. MAKE A MACRAME FRIENDSHIP BRACELET FOR AGES 8-12 Taking its lead from the gorgeous array of textiles in the Out of the Blue exhibition, this workshop incorporates a tour of the exhibition in our gallery with an hour where youngsters can turn inspiration into creation and make a macrame friendship bracelet. 
  • 4 - 24 Aug 2022 at The Arc. WEAVE A MOODY BLUES RAINBOW A beginners weaving workshop for 5-8 year olds We’ll be taking our lead from the vivid blues of the Out of the Blue exhibition and some of its Moody Blues' inspiration to work with youngsters to create a beautiful, blue-toned rainbow, incorporating wool, and other sensory textiles. And once your youngster has created their masterpiece, they get to put it on the wall at home for everyone to admire! 
  • 28 May - 1 Jun 2022 at The Arc. MAKE A TEXTILE TREE OF LIFE FOR AGES 6-8 A 60 minute workshop Our wonderful exhibition, 'Out of the Blue', uses trees and flowers to make beautiful pictures for fabric, wallpaper, and furniture.  

Workshops for Adults 

  • 25 May - 18 Jul 2022 WEAVE A MANDALA: LEARNING TO USE A CIRCULAR LOOM Have you ever used a round loom? Inspired by our Out of the Blue exhibition, come and learn this simple, effective way of weaving with a range of wools – we provide the loom and wool. You bring inspiration and trinkets to add to your work to add that personal touch – that favourite old earring that has lost its pair, or beads and buttons you love. 
  • DG banner
  • Designers Guild Venice © Designers Guild
  • Designers Guild Giardino Segreto collection SS18 © Designers Guild
  • Designers Guild Geo Moderne © Designers Guild
  • Designers Guild The Terrace © Designers Guild
  • Designers Guild Travellers Tales © Designers Guild

Dates and times

Please click or tap the calendar icon to select your date and press 'Go' to choose available visiting times.
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Additional information

Gift Aid

PLEASE CONSIDER SELECTING A TICKET WITH AN ADDITIONAL DONATION.

If you are a UK taxpayer, this will enable us to claim Gift Aid on the full amount of your admission. This additional 25p on every pound can make a real difference to Hampshire Cultural Trust’s work to change lives through culture.

THANK YOU

Photography

Photography is permitted ONLY in the City Space section of this exhibition. Photography is NOT permitted in The Gallery.

Image credits

Banner image:

  • TRICIA GUILD MBE

Images:

  • Designers Guild Geo Moderne © Designers Guild
  • Designers Guild The Terrace © Designers Guild
  • Designers Guild Travellers Tales © Designers Guild
  • Designers Guild Venice © Designers Guild
  • Designers Guild Giardino Segreto collection SS18 © Designers Guild
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