FRESH

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield, England), Nov 13, 2006

Name: Ruth Walker

Age: 27

Lives: Dalton

Your life story: I grew up in Sunderland and studied an Art Foundation Course at Newcastle College. I graduated from the University of Huddersfield in 2002 with a first class honours degree in BSc Textile Design. During my course, I studied in Melbourne, Australia, for six months. I also worked as an intern in New York for a fashion label called Renfrew. After graduating I worked as a knitwear designer for a Scissett manufacturing company for three and a half years. I set up my own business, Snood, at the beginning of 2006 and left my job in May to concentrate on this full time.

What do you do? I have a recycled knitwear label called Snood. I source second-hand and vintage garments and use the fabric to create new one-off pieces of knitwear. I have also just opened an ethical fashion shop called Snood in the Byram Arcade, which stocks my own brand of knitwear as well as other ethical fashion labels. The product areas covered are womenswear, menswear, babieswear, accessories and gifts. The emphasis is on being style conscious with a conscience.

Your finest artistic creation: Snood! With my own knitwear label I can be as creative as I want to be. This, combined the ethics behind the label, is my own personal finest artistic creation.

Where does your inspiration come from: From the initial garments themselves. I like to be inspired by the history or uniqueness of a garment and then play around with the shape on the body to create something new and exciting.

Favourite thing about Huddersfield: The way it's starting to get that arty city vibe but it's still small and friendly and only minutes away from the hills and fresh air!

Five heroes, alive or dead: Nicole Farhi, Safia Minney (People Tree), Degas, Arthur Ball (old school art teacher) and above all my Dad.

Ambition: To build and establish a successful ethical knitwear brand.

You can meet me at: Artspace, Bates Mill or Snood, Byram Arcade.