Wealden Times | WT169 | March 2016 | Fashion supplement inside

A pure craft
Katie Timothy was brought up in Surrey and studied in Rochester.
Nottinghamshire’s Adam Barclay is now her partner in life and in
business, and together they are the founders and creators of in-grid.
They design the most stunningly simple white shirts for women.
WT’s Helen delves into their world of art, design and process, and
discovers their thoughts for the future...
What led you to design?
(KATIE) Design was always
a natural path for both of us.
I started my working life as a
ballet dancer. That of course
has a high level of creativity
involved. Adam grew up with
a mother who has a love of
fashion and art, sharing books
with him from David Hockney
to Tom Ford. Adam naturally
found this inspiring and we both
found ourselves at art school
at separate times in our lives.
Is there a principle/philosophy
behind in-grid? We have
a single mission, to create
high quality white shirts, for
women, made in England.
Do you have any favourite
designers/artists who inspire
you? (ADAM) Immediately the
designers’ names that come to
mind are Kenya Hara, Helmut
Schmid, John Pawson, Ryue
Nishizawa, but I think art is our
main source of inspiration, Gian
Lorenzo Bernini being my all
time favourite artist. His work
with marble is almost alchemic.
What’s your favourite design
process and why? (KATIE)
I think if I have to pick a
singular moment that makes
the whole process extremely
satisfying it is handling, cutting
and draping the cotton straight
onto a tailor’s dummy. I find I
work very intuitively with my
hands rather than sketching
to develop a design. I enjoy
mastering the shape of the cut
and then trying out details
and developing them as I go.
Do you have a favourite fabric?
(KATIE) Cotton would be my
favourite. I like working with
medium to heavy weight fabrics
that are graphic to look at and
that are also very durable. We
use cotton poplin for in-grid
as it has a beautiful feel and
durability to it. We are still
on the search for the perfect
cotton supplier in Britain; it
is proving hard to come by...
Should anyone know of a
company please do get in touch!
You create white shirts only,
what led you to something so
specific? (KATIE) White shirts
were found through a process
rather than an initial decision,
however we have always wanted
to create a specific product
rather than a full range or
collection. I feel it is important
to become a master of your
trade with design and to really
work on perfecting your product
so your customers can rely on
you each season. We wanted
to be simple in our approach
in more ways than one. We
wanted to promote the idea of
buying less, at a higher quality,
with better materials for a more
ecologically minded society.
Where do you go for
inspiration and research?
(KATIE) I like to walk and
especially enjoy this in the
Lake District. Walking around
such beautiful scenery certainly
gets my mind going. It’s a
wonderfully quiet place and
days here are very inspiring.
It is always handy in these
moments to carry a sketchbook
as a big idea can have a very
small beginning, so noting/
drawing as I walk is very helpful.
Your style and aesthetic is very
definite and specific. Do you
consider this to be a personal
reflection? (KATIE) We both
like to dress in a uniformed
way. My wardrobe consists of a
lot of navy jumpers and white
shirts. Our style is certainly a
reflection of in-grid and in-grid
of us. I feel it is important
when designing to always
question whether you yourself
would wear your product. I
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