Sophie Mancellon

Category: Interior

Competitions: Home Competition 2025

Nourriture 1.Nourishment 2. Archaic upbringing; nurture Inspired by the rich heritage of Provence in the south of France, this graduate collection delves into the transformation of simple, natural ingredients from the land. It follows their journey through slow, hand-crafted processes, combing these ingredients to nourish our bodies. This interiors collection traces the path from the fruitful land to produce markets, and finally the table. This exploration has let me to understand and utilize historical techniques such as weaving, spinning, natural dyeing, knitting and patchwork. These techniques, deeply rooted in tradition, offer a rich tapestry of methods that honour the past while providing a foundation for innovative design. I aim to bring relevance to these slow practices of making, while infusing a contemporary feel into the interior collection. By reviving these methods, the project seeks to bridge the gap between heritage and modernity, creating pieces that are both timeless and current. By utilizing natural fibres such as linen, alpaca, and sheep’s wool, the project emphasizes the slow, mindful creation process. These fibres, sourced sustainably and responsibly, are chosen for their unique textural properties and their ability to connect us to the land. This approach not only results in unique, innovative, and tactile designs but also highlights the importance of sustainability, responsible design, and a deep connection to our natural materials. Through a profound understanding of these materials and ingredient, the project promotes responsible design practices that celebrate the natural world and its offerings. Ultimately, this collection is a celebration of the natural world, and the rich heritage of Provence. It is a testament to the beauty of slow, mindful creation and the importance of sustainable design. By embracing these principles, the project aims to create a collection that is vibrant, beautiful, meaningful that that resonates with those who value quality, tradition and innovation. Sophie Mancellon Grays School of Art

Category: Apparel

Competitions: Fashion Competition 2024

Food preservation has been relevant since we became human. Using heat, air, water salt and acid to preserve natural ingredients to feed ourselves long term, were many methods based on our heritage. Through generations, we have evolved with our food preservation. We Dismantle and recreate natural objects using vessels. What lies within are simple natural ingredients that go through an exciting process to create something entirely different. It is not dissimilar to constructed knitted textiles. Through a deep understanding of our natural materials and a long process of combining these natural materials, we can create a one-of-a-kind knitted garment. I have explored these slow and amazing processes and the understanding of them through fermentation within my project. I have sourced and used sustainable dead stock alpaca wool and linen for sampling and worked with many techniques with my knitting machine and weaving in these ingredients to create an insight into our relationship with natural ingredients through the fermentation process and relating it to a knitted garment. My mission as a designer and within my design process is to use 100% natural fibres from start to finish. This would entail, using locally sourced alpaca wool and naturally dying it by hand with fermented natural ingredients, that are all plant and food-based, staying true to my design ethos. Natural dying allows me to create a truly one-off bespoke piece as every natural dye bath is unique. Using these historical, slow and sustainable processes gives me full control of my design and the longevity of my garment. The garment itself would have a lifetime guarantee for mending to ensure its long life span so that generations may hand it down and hopefully, one day go return to the land it has once come from and bio-degrade.