Princess Beatrice visits Future Textiles exhibition at the Garrison Chapel

Princess Beatrice visited The King’s Foundation’s Future Textiles exhibition at the Garrison Chapel, Chelsea this week. The Chapel is the Foundation’s exhibition space and regularly hosts showcases of work by students and alumni of The King’s Foundation, along with other special events.

The current exhibition marks ten years of pioneering textiles education, inspired by our Royal Founding President, His Majesty The King. The Future Textiles programme was initiated by His Majesty The King at Dumfries House in 2014 to help address a skills gap within the UK fashion and textiles industry through education and training.

Her Royal Highness was welcomed to the Chapel by the charity’s Education Director, Jacqueline Farrell, and was introduced to a range of students, alumni and industry partners from King’s Foundation courses. Princess Beatrice tried her hand at various textiles techniques including smocking and embroidery alongside the students, and spoke to industry partners about their work to support young people through the charity’s education programmes.

Before departing, Her Royal Highness was presented with a specially-created poppy pin, to mark Armistice Day on 11 November, which was created by Sheena Spence, a longstanding member of the Sewing Bee based at Dumfries House, who lives in nearby Ayr.

Through Future Textiles, The King’s Foundation offers a wide range of education and training programmes for people of all ages ranging from activities like the Sewing Bee, through to international conferences which bring industry leaders together with emerging talent, and intensive full-time training programmes which give students the opportunity to produce garments by hand for the luxury fashion industry, such as the Modern Artisan programme with Net-a-Porter.

To date, more than 7,000 people have benefitted from Future Textiles at The King’s Foundation’s sites including Dumfries House in Ayrshire, Highgrove Gardens in Gloucestershire, and Trinity Buoy Wharf in London. Courses are run in collaboration with some of the industry’s most renowned brands, retailers and organisations including CHANEL, YOOX Net-a-Porter, Tencel, Fashion Council Germany, The Joseph Ettedgui Foundation, and The Worshipful Company of Weavers.