Design Creative Of The Week: Laura Amstein [Fashion/Textiles/Accessories]

Our Creative Of The Week is award winning accessory designer Laura Amstein. Since graduating in 2011 from the Royal College of Art with an MA in Accessory Design, Laura has won the YKK Award and has worked with Burberry on their Prorsum accessory line.

Why we like her: Her playful collection of leather goods ‘Eight Shapes’ is based on traditional leather molding techniques. By pulling and stretching the leather, she creates unusual 3D shapes in bright and exciting colours.

Laura says of the collection:

There are elements of surprise, playfulness and movement in the the product. Some pieces stack neatly on top of or inside each other, some expand the more you store in them, and others contract as you pick them up. It is this interaction between the products themselves and the user that I delight in.

Laura Amstein

Design process: Laura initially sketches her designs using cardboard and scraps of material. These card mock-ups help her to develop the shape and proportion the final design.

Material development was crucial to the design process. This involved making moulded samples with different leathers, making prototypes and colour development.

Laura Amstein

How to contact her: For queries regarding commissions or collaborations, contact Laura through her website.

I would love to be approached regarding collaborations, commissions or job opportunities. I’d be very excited in projects involving working with leather and designing leather goods as this is where my passion lies. I am also very keen to launch my own label in the future and gaining as much experience as possible in the industry is going to be crucial in order to make this a success!

Laura Amstein