Beth Lingard scooped several prizes at the TEX+ 2025 Awards event recently held at the Chelsea College of Arts in London, with the Leeds Arts University student among some of the UK’s top graduating textile designers to receive awards.
Presented by trend forecaster Li Edelkoort and attended by Orla Kiely and Zandra Rhodes, the winners were selected from 25 finalists representing institutions also including Central St Martins, Glasgow School of Art, and Manchester School of Art.
Lingard scooped the £500 Sanderson Art in Industry Prize, awarded for Commercial & Market Potential, and The Sahara Prize, with a £500 cash award and a one-month placement at Sahara Textiles. She also the won The Pattern Cloud Prize, gaining one-year free access to The Pattern Cloud Graduate Plan.
Central Saint Martins‘ Amber Fry also won two prizes, the £1,000 TEX+ Trustees’ Prize for Sustainability & Ethical Practice, and theMary Restieaux Prize, which included a private studio visit, mentorship and hand-dyed silk yarns.
Other winners were Esme Whitton, UWE Bristol School of Art and Design, who won the Liberty Fabrics Studio Prize, which comes with a studio visit, and three-month mentorship complete with archive access; Winnie Sowter, Edinburgh College of Art, who took the Helga Goldman Prize for Innovation & Creativity and its £1,000 cash prize; Severina Seidl, Royal School of Needlework, won the TEX+ Trustees’ Prize for Technical Excellence (also with a £1,000 award); while The Pentland Prize saw two winners of two-month paid design placements at Pentland Brands going to Yingruo Cao, London College of Fashion and Aidan Morris, Glasgow School of Art; meanwhile Asha Vine, Arts University Bournemouth, took the Bay & Brown Prizewhich included an online floral print course and portfolio session with Tracey Brown.
Jeremy Somers, chair of TEX+, said: “Every year we’re amazed by the depth of talent coming through, but the 2025 cohort has truly raised the bar. These designers are not only technically skilled but also tackling some of the most urgent conversations in design today — from sustainability to storytelling, identity to innovation.”
Edelkoort added: “The future is incredibly bright when I see so many students courageously confronting the major challenges of our time — rethinking materials, reshaping systems, and reviving crafts. At TEX+, we witness a new generation not just dreaming of change, but designing it.”
