Lu Firth – Costume Designer/Maker. Textile & Dress Designer/Maker. Textiles Tutor. Community Artist.
I studied Textiles and Fashion at Camberwell School of Art, Theatre Design at Croydon College of Art and MA Research in Historical Dress & Textiles at Winchester School of Art.
Having studied, researched and collected historic dress and textiles all my life I am inspired by heritage clothing particularly that of the 1930s, work wear, and diverse cultural fashion. Trained originally as a weaver I still adore woven plaids, and the simplicity of Shibori dyeing and Japanese textile designs.
I like to use old and traditional textile dyeing techniques. My silk kimonos and scarves are designed and dyed with the ancient Japanese Shibori resist dye method. This is also known in West Africa as Tritik.
I teach Indigo dyeing, Shibori, Batik and Silk Screen printing privately and with my local community. I also work as a Freelance Costume Designer.