During London Fashion Week in September I met Leanne Claxton. She started painting when she was just six using oil paints to elucidate her love, imagination and obsession with flowers. Her brilliance and creative work reflects clearly through her collection of scarves that feature floral designs. The artist got her BBA degree in Textile Design at Central Saint Martins and much of her time was spent under the mentoring of influential fashions designers, including Christian Lacroix.
Leanne started the scarves printing business in 2011, in an attempt to make her artwork more accessible to the masses. These scarves consist of kaleidoscopic color palettes made out of floral designs, but before they are translated onto scarfs, Leanne paints them using oil paints in her studio in Lancashire. This artwork is then transferred on the finest silk either through screen-printing or digitally. These scarves are the most exquisite renditions of delicate and luxurious silk accessories that can be worn a neck scarf, tired to a bag, sarong, or even as a belt.
Art of Flowers—Spring/Summer 2017 collection
“Art of Flowers”, the latest collection of scarves from Leanne Claxton epitomizes on brilliance and radiance; an amalgamation of all the beautiful things printed onto scarfs. This spring/summer 2017 collection takes it inspiration, obviously from the flowers and the American Georgia O’keeffe (1887-1986); a perfect blend for nostalgia.
This time, as compared to past year, the colours have more neutral underlying tones, but they are still vibrant though. The palette captures the majestic view of an old summerhouse in Spain and the wild summer flora and fauna.
Technique
Leanne now prefers to interchange her artwork between digital and physical. She uses Wacom Cintiq for the designs and the latest digital software. In her studio, you could see different disciplines resting harmoniously with each other. She also like to use sewing machine as an alternative to a pencil.
Collections
This year’s Leanne Claxton digital scarf collection has dramatic oil paintings that are flawlessly printed onto the finest fabrics, using the highest quality of digital printing technique. Each scarf goes through three different phases before it’s finally translated into a final product:
- A detailed graphite sketch that works as a blueprint.
- Oil painting the sketch.
- Screen printing.
Claxton Bespoke scarves
If you want one-of-a-kind hand-made scarf, you could also go with a scarf that’s digitally painted, treated, washed and hand finished. These scarfs have their individual quirks and are made with pure love and care. This is something truly special about Leanne’s
“Claxton Bespoke” scarves. The procedure is quite intricate and lengthy and the process is creative.
The bespoke scarves service got its inspiration from Leanne’s love and passion creating truly unique pieces; something that’s common to her paintings. The artist also offers a unique service where clients can participate in creation process to have a wearable art that could be cherished for years. All bespoke scarves come with a reusable branded bag and a beautiful box.
