Odette Smaldon is a designer maker specialising in constructed textiles. Using a combination of traditional and contemporary techniques; she uses drawing/collage, knitting, macramé, crochet and laser cutting to create innovative and engaging textile pieces for fashion and interior environments. Odette is greatly inspired by a passion for making and craftsmanship.
She often designs through making; sampling and experimenting is an integral part to the design process. Odette's creative process begins with photography and drawing, selecting interesting shapes and textures. The initial imagery manifests into textiles by identifying suitable materials and techniques which are then intensely developed through sampling of techniques and material combination. This way of working encourages continual learning, development in skills and considered outcomes. Odette utilises found materials alongside laser cut acrylic shapes (informed by her chosen subject matter) which are manipulated and repeated to create intriguing textile surfaces with both soft and structured properties. The textiles hold playful and interactive qualities, highlighted by the transparent and light reflecting components alongside solid bright and bold colours.
The use of traditional hand craft techniques such as knitting and crochet has developed in Odette's making from a young age. She takes pride in bringing the well-established crafts beyond their grandmotherly assumptions and into a contemporary context. Odette believes that when considering the future of knitting as a craft we need to adopt the new approaches proposed by technology for it to have a strong status within contemporary craft. In response to this idea Odette uses an amalgamation of hand and machine knit (utilising digital knit programs) as well as digitally rendered laser cut components.