An old-established textile firm provides a nest for entrepreneurial design talent
Duncan Neil is Creative Director at Earthed by William Clark and Son, bringing fourteen years of UK textiles experience to the driving seat of this nature-inspired luxury linen brand. William Clark and Sons is the worlds oldest surviving linen company with over 300 years experience and is based near Maghera in Northern Ireland.
Born in Glasgow and graduating in 2004 from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee, Duncan’s professional appointments have included those in menswear print design, digital furnishings production and university research.
Here we present ‘Egyptian Thistle’ digital print on linen. Duncan is the son of a Scottish manse. Unearthed in the family home was a late Victorian journal collated by a Scotswoman from Clackmannanshire travelling the Holy-lands in the 1890s. Inspired by the sketches and pressings in this travel journal, Duncan designed and developed the Pilgrimage Range for Earthed, from which collection this example is drawn.
Earthed won 2017 Best Fabric award at BDNY, the leading event in USA for Design in the leisure and hospitality industry. Since our first European showing of Pilgrimage beyond the shores of N.Ireland, the range continues to find favour in this sector, most recently with a leading hotel group in Spain.
Recognising the potential for career development, Journeys in Design has forged links on behalf of Scottish designers wishing to develop their practice, facilitating a short residency period at Clark’s under Duncan’s watchful eye.
