My Fabrics Have Their Roots In Poland And Their Heart Here In Britain

TEXTILE DESIGNER JULIA BRENDEL

Listening to Julia Brendel talk about her fabrics, it is easy to see how she has drawn major interest with her unique take on folk patterns and archive designs. Her passion and creative capture of traditional patterns keep her clients enthused, but Julia would be the first to say that it was a lengthy process deciding how to make her mark.

‘I live in a lovely little village in Kent, in a beautiful Tudor and Georgian house, but I’m originally a city girl from PoznaÅ„ in Poland,’ explains Julia. ‘It was being in this country, in a quiet, beautiful place, that gave me an outlet to begin a new career.’

Always a creative person, and with a background in product design, Julia says, ‘I wanted more than just being at home with my children and I missed the artistic opportunities that stopped when I had my family. Also, I’m what my friends call a “perpetual beginner”, having done all sorts of practical arts and craft classes. I needed a career that blended all kinds of imaginative inroads and outputs.’

It was at one of these courses, at the V&A in London, that the seed of an idea was planted in Julia’s mind. A cushion-making class, inspired by folk-style costumes of the Ballets Russes, led Julia to draw upon her own Polish roots. ‘Our villages have unique customs and I’ve always loved how Polish places have different costumes, embroidery and woven patterns celebrating their history,’ she says. ‘This course was a serendipitous moment that sparked my career path, creating textiles inspired by my Hungarian and Polish past.’