A Kingston University graduate has landed a job at leading US label Abercrombie and Fitch after winning a competition which resulted in high street favourite Topshop hanging hundreds of jumpers designed by her on their rails.
Henrietta Jerram, who studied fashion at Kingston University, appeared in The Telegraph's Stella magazine and was snapped up by Abercrombie and Fitch after winning a national competition promoting the use of real wool.
The 23-year-old, from Malmesbury, Wiltshire, combined multicoloured Fair Isle patterns which reminded her of “being warm and cosy” with sheep and wool puns to give the knitwear a “fun” twist.
Her competition-winning ‘Sheep Thrills’ jumper is accompanied by sheep-shaped elbow pads, while a second bright pink jumper depicts a sheep and the slogan ‘Sheepish’.
Topshop design director Jacqui Markham said: “Henrietta has captured Topshop’s sense of fun and tongue-in-cheek experimentation with a style that’s created a real buzz with our customers.”
Bosses were so impressed with Henrietta’s quirky ‘Sheep Thrills’ design that they upped orders from 50 to 1,000 – and commissioned another 500 of her ‘Sheepish’ design.
Organised by the Campaign for Wool, the competition matched students from design schools across the UK with a line-up of major retailers, including Harvey Nichols and John Lewis.
“It's all been such a whirlwind and so exciting,” Henrietta said.
“I opened up the Telegraph's Stella magazine, which is my favourite, at the weekend and saw a picture of my Sheep Thrills jumper. I was completely overwhelmed. It was the perfect reward for all my hard work,” she said.
And the icing on the cake? Henrietta has landed a job as a design associate at international US brand Abercrombie and Fitch.
“I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams that I'd soon be off to become a design associate at such a big international brand and have people rushing to buy my designs.”