I was missing London and, as I’d spotted a trade fair dedicated to prints, I jumped on the Eurostar for a weekend away with friends. The idea was to combine business with pleasure and visit a trade fair to find out a bit more about the textile design profession, which really appealed to me.
After a few rather unfriendly responses at the first few stands, I was about to leave the venue in disappointment when I stumbled upon a stand crammed with fabric samples in a wide variety of styles, all jumbled together.
My unconditional love for prints stopped me in my tracks and I began examining these fabric swatches without paying any attention to the elderly English lady with an arty style who was watching me kindly… She eventually came over to speak to me and I wanted to understand exactly what she was selling: patterns or fabrics? She then explained that she was simply clearing out the archive stock from her studio, the name of which meant absolutely nothing to me, which amused her…
She then asked me if I drew as well and if I’d like to show her my designs…
That’s how I found myself sitting next to her, on the other side of the stand, showing her my first prints and hanging on every word of her expert advice.
When she paused on one design and told me it would make a lovely Liberty print, I replied that working for that company would truly be my dream come true.
And then she simply said to me: ‘You know, I’ve sold them loads of them, so go on, give it a go!’
Suddenly, I really wondered who I was talking to at that precise moment, but she’d run out of business cards and I didn’t dare ask her name again…
A few years later, I signed a contract with the American publisher Michael Miller Fabrics. And there, looking at the page introducing the other designers… I came across a photo of that charming Englishwoman, whose name I finally discovered: Sarah Campbell!
This time, I did a bit of research and quickly realised who I’d been so incredibly lucky to meet… Sarah had founded, with her sister Susan, the world-famous textile design studio ‘Collier Campbell’, which I must have been more or less the only person not to know about… Since then, to make up for my lack of knowledge and to mark this wonderful encounter, I treated myself to the magnificent book commemorating Susan and Sarah’s 50 years in design.
It has even become my new favourite book.
That day, I really did meet a true lady.
Thank you, Sarah!