Profile: Jess Fraser – Only Natural Design Competitions

Jess Fraser

Central Saint Martins

My name is Jess Fraser, a printed textile designer with a first-class honours from Central Saint Martins in Textile Design. As a designer, I love creating pieces that resonate with those interacting with them, as well as sparking joy and inspiration. In my graduate year, I began working with natural dye screenprint pastes and fell in love with the process, from boiling dyes and mixing pastes to designing with the process in mind. It is a time-consuming but rewarding technique which creates natural and sustainable prints with rich colours. I take inspiration from art history, my favourite designers being Vanessa Bell or mid-century designers like Gere Kavanaugh, who saw textiles and design as more than creativity, but a way of enriching people's lives and spaces. I try to approach my design work in a similar way, hand painting designs, combining feeling with natural dyes and print - celebrating the natural world and the way we interact with it.

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Platonic Harmony

Category: Interior

Competitions: Home Competition 2025

Platonic Harmony is an interior textile project which aims to encapsulate the feelings we have when we're with close friends. Depicting the intangible, the wall covering was realised through natural screenprint techniques - a 4 layer vertically repeated print using pastes made from natural dyes and modifiers. Printed onto British wool felt, the piece measures 70cm x 200cm and hangs from a wooden dowel. The dye pastes used include madder, brazilwood, iron, citric acid and soda ash, the reactions of the dyes creating a 7 tone print. The felt was chosen as it reflects the warmth we feel when with those we feel safe to be ourselves around. Printing onto the felt was a lengthy process, from working out how the dyes interact to exposing the screens - the printing process took 22 pulls per colour and then steaming and washing out. Each stage can change how the final colours come out so alot of experimentation was needed. The print's imagery comes from discussions with friends and workshops, sharing creativity and ideas. The Bloomsbury Group was also an influence and their shared connection, creative minds and the immersive space of Charleston House in Sussex. The hanging is one of 4 from the collection.