Embroidery and embellishment designer Liss Cooke was inspired by Japanese flower arranging and kanzashi head pieces worn by Japanese geisha when creating this heavily embroidered jacket for her MA degree
Liss Cooke is an embroiderer to watch, having already worked on outfits for celebs such as musician Beyoncé and actor Cate Blanchett while working with fashion designer Mary Katrantzou, as well as producing gorgeous designs for her own business. Her work focuses on combining digital and hand embroidery so they work in tandem.
“I love to use digital to create a beautiful base design and then add additional embellishment details for texture and 3D relief.”
For this particular design, she used complex 3D sequin techniques including stacking, clustering and folded sequin, as well as more subtle details such as micro-beading and the appliqué of tulle and metallic leathers.
“I love the sophisticated and controlled look of Japanese floral arrangements, but I also love the freedom of nature, as falling flower petals float in the wind and are pulled to the earth by gravity,” explains Liss.
“I wanted my design to have a controlled barrier, represented by the circular frame, and the flowers to begin spilling out over the edges.”
The highly detailed design was finished with a final addition of hand embroidery, creating a painterly blue line that runs from the top of the jacket through the central embroidery, before falling off the edge of the jacket, leaving trailing blue thread behind.
www.lisscooketextiledesign.com
Liss used complex 3D sequin techniques including stacking, clustering and folded sequin
For more details on how Liss Cooke created her embroidery design, and the equipment and techniques she used, visit our October 2020 issue
