My Scarf goes on Sale in Liberties, London

Liberty’s newly reopened scarf department is the glamorous setting for a promotion of the work of the three winners of the ComOn Texprint competition in which contestants were asked to create the perfect silk scarf to celebrate historic Italian towns and cities.

Fashion journalist Sarah Mower, who is a strong advocate for Liberty’s revamped scarf room, suggested the idea of working with Liberty to Texprint, the UK charity whose aim is to link new textile designers to industry. Como silk printer Ratti, one of the judges of the competition, generously offered to print the scarves that are now in store for the month of February at a retail price of £105.

ComOn was set up in 2008 by Confindustria Como, the body that represents the 250 textile companies in the north Italian Como region, that traditionally has specialised in silk weaving and printing. The aim of ComOn is to strengthen the relationship between the Como silk industry and upcoming design talent worldwide.

The Grand Tour is the second competition ComOn has initiated with Texprint, with a brief that asked for a 90cm x 90cm silk scarf, plus coordinating prints for dresses and ties. The entries from 24 UK universities and colleges were whittled down to 15 by a three person panel of Peter Robinson from New Look, Robert Bell from Next and Leigh Cooke, Texprint winner from 1995 and now Hermès scarf designer. The final winners were chosen by a judging team including Elena Alfani, director of accessories at Ferragamo and Ed Burstall, director of buying at Liberty.

The Gold Award went to Robyn Holmyard who studied Textile Design at Birmingham City University and chose Sienna as her city.