Profile: Sasha Coggin – Only Natural Design Competitions

Sasha Coggin

De Montfort University

We are tactile creatures. We experience the world not only through sight, but through touch, texture and sensation. My work is sensory, organic and driven by curiosity. It is designed to draw you in, to make you want to touch it and follow my circuitous route from nature, through nurture, via experimentation and exploration to the textural textiles you see here. My inspiration comes from the natural world and the everyday moments that often go unnoticed. I collect photographs from hikes, beachcombing “treasures”, screenshots from movies, quotes from books and song lyrics. I am drawn to landscapes, patterns, colours and objects that resonate with me conceptually as well as texturally. These references become starting points for exploration, as I use a wide range of materials and techniques to transform the emotions and ideas they evoke into knitted textiles. Experimentation is at the heart of my practice. I enjoy pushing materials beyond their expected limits, embracing both successes and surprises as part of the process. Whenever possible, I work with natural and deadstock fibres, including British wool, using them in innovative ways that reflect my commitment to sustainability and responsible making. For me, knit is an incredibly versatile and organic medium. Its flexibility allows me to create rich surfaces that are both visually engaging and irresistibly tactile. I am constantly learning new techniques and processes and this willingness to explore has led to unexpected discoveries and technically diverse outcomes. Through my work, I hope to challenge both myself and my audience, encouraging a deeper appreciation of texture, material and the natural world.

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In Search of Reprieve

Category: Apparel

Competitions: Fashion Competition 2026

I walk to escape. I walk to breathe. I walk to feel. The correlation between increased mental wellbeing and accessing nature is well documented. Walking is my escape from the chaos of life and is how I reconnect with nature. In Search of Reprieve explores my personal experience. Drawing inspiration from photos taken on my trips to the countryside, it also explores the influence of the British landscape on the natures of the strong female characters portrayed in literature and film. On the North York Moors, I walked in the footsteps of Wuthering Heights’ Cathy Earnshaw, feeling the effects of the sun, wind and rain on my senses. On a physical level, my work focuses on the textures and colours seen in nature and the relationship of the fabric to them: the bonding and breaking down of textiles and how this reflects the details of the landscape itself. Beginning with Caroline Bingley’s remark “My goodness, did you see her hem? Six inches deep in mud” from the 2005 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, I explored the concept of how the landscape and environment affect what we are wearing through a range of techniques, from dyeing to mixed media and knit. Through material-led investigation, I utilised the felting properties of wool to create structures which I combined with lighter weight materials to create unique textures. Using British wool for sustainability and as a material link to the landscape, I combined different knit techniques on domestic, dubied and shima machines with different yarns and wool roving to create textiles with a weathered, organic feel, which invite the viewer to touch and engage with on a sensory level.