Textiles school founder’s 14-year-old son from Northampton goes step further to win prestigious competition
The 14-year-old son of a textiles school founder, from Northampton, has gone one step further to win a prestigious competition that he was previously a runner up in.
Jace Lothian won the Young Talent of Tomorrow competition in June, having come second in 2024, and his mother Jamie-Lee has expressed her pride at his accomplishments.
Jamie-Lee is the face behind the Northants Fashion and Textiles School, which recently celebrated its three year anniversary of encouraging young creatives to pursue alternative avenues in Northampton.
The classes at the award-winning venture operate on a term-by-term basis and parents book their children in one term at a time to give them the chance to work on one project throughout the duration, including the designing, developing and making.
The business now has a dedicated studio space at Northampton Business Centre, shared with Jamie-Lee’s new venture Dyslexia Blossoms, and Jace has attended his mother’s classes over the years to embrace his creativity.
Jamie-Lee explained that the competition is hosted by the Graduate Fashion Foundation, who are known for putting on Graduate Fashion Week, and give opportunities to young people before they decide whether to pursue this as a career.
The young people are given a brief, create their work at home, and the winners are selected once all entries have been sent in. As part of Jace’s success in the year seven to nine category, his designs were turned into mini films to be played throughout Graduate Fashion Week.
Jace and Jamie-Lee attended the gala show on the final day of Graduate Fashion Week, which was a great experience and gave the 14-year-old an insight into what he can expect if he opts to work in fashion and textiles.
Part of the brief was looking back through the Graduate Fashion Foundation archives and Jace took inspiration from former University of Northampton student Maya Burrowes. Jace designed a women’s and men’s outfit, incorporating faux leather, Caribbean colours and the black panther movement.
“As his mum, I’m incredibly proud of him,” said Jamie-Lee. “This is exactly the type of talent we want to create opportunities for at the Northants Fashion and Textiles School, and we hope it encourages others.
“You don’t know the talent that lurks right under your nose. As a shoe town, it’s inevitable that we have creativity in the area. Parents and carers should be encouraging creativity as everything is designed. Design is the glue for everything.”
Jamie-Lee would love to host a trip to Graduate Fashion Week next year, to show young people what is possible if they opt for a creative career in fashion and textiles.
Jace has just started his GCSE courses in year 10, and is exploring avenues in art, fashion, textiles and mechanics to see which he wants to carve out a career in. His mum is proud that he has the knowledge and confidence to know he can pursue a creative career.