Aimee Rayner on the work

Textiles and embroidery has historically been used as a form of communication and a form of protest. This chair is from the perspective of a recent design graduate and is a physical push-back from the automated application system that companies use for entry-level hiring which fundamentally does not work for creative careers.

The textile upholstery is embroidered with a poem inspired by a Cover Letter that symbolises the new wave of designers that are struggling to get a seat at the design industry table. The seat frame is a repurposed chair which represents the current industry and its professionals as we know it- the master crafts-people, the knowledge holders, the gate-keepers.

The combination of the old chair frame and new textile upholstery demonstrates the seamless transition between old ways of working combining with a new generation of ideas. It plays with the idea of collaboration, learning vs teaching and heritage vs innovation.

This is a one-off piece, made for the Decorex 2026 event which I hope will inspire conversation about multi-generational design and craft over a pint.