Sharyn always wanted to be a fashion designer, her father thought it was a bad idea and no future in it. Interestingly her father was a tailor and her mother a knitter, so you could say the fashion was in her blood.
Sharyn had a Saturday job at Boots the Chemist, and when she left school there was an opportunity to train and qualify as a dispensing chemist. It took two years and eventually she became the main dispenser and trained the new recruits. During this time she discovered that there was a discrepancy in pay, so even though she was the main dispenser, she couldn’t earn as much as the more junior male dispensers.
Sharyn’s transition into becoming a designer was almost accidental, it all started with a cardigan, which she designed and knitted for herself. She was always able to knit without a pattern, creating her own unique garments. This particular cardigan was very striking, as you can see below. A friend asked where she got it from, and on hearing the answer asked Sharyn to knit her one. Then a friend of that friend also asked for one. So the business of designing and knitting sweaters began. Sharyn started to design a unisex range of knitwear, produced in silk and mohair.
Sharyn supplied her knitwear to niche market boutiques in London and South East England, and as the business grew Sharyn created a cottage industry with around 30 women working from home, knitting the garments from patterns designed by Sharyn. She was by now selling bespoke pieces and small volumes of various designs to and directly through distributors.
One of Sharyn’s contacts took some samples to America and came back with an order from Macy’s for 200 items. However the timescales they had in mind for delivery were completely unachievable for the hand knitted items. You have to ask your self – what if?
Around this time, Sharyn had moved to Leicestershire, and decided it was time to follow her dream, to go to university where she studied Design Crafts. This gave her the opportunity to learn new skills in the Arts and Crafts arena. The course moved Sharyn into the design of large installations, lighting and sculptures for both residential and commercial environments. She has exhibited in galleries nationally and sold at trade fairs all over the UK.
Sharyn formed “The Collective” – a Designer/Maker Group providing support to each other in the area of exhibiting.
Take a look at Sharyn’s work on her website https://www.sharyndunn.com.
Sharyn is also in our Arts corner https://mentorsforwomen.com/arts-corner/sharyn-dunn/
Great to have you with us Sharyn, with a great array of skills in design, exhibiting and business.
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