Kristín Ferrell
Fashion, Clothing and Textile Design MA
Aalto University
Specialisms: Formal/Couture / Atelier - Pattern Cutting / Textile Innovation/Textile Art
Location: Reykjavík, Iceland
Kristín Ferrell
First Name: Kristín
Last Name: Ferrell
Specialisms: Formal/Couture / Atelier - Pattern Cutting / Textile Innovation/Textile Art
Sectors:
My Location: Reykjavík, Iceland
University / College: Aalto University
Course / Program Title: Fashion, Clothing and Textile Design MA
About
Kristín Ferrell is a textile and fashion designer whose work blends material experimentation with narrative and memory. Her practice moves between weaving, draping, and storytelling—crafting garments and textiles that feel both grounded and poetic.
Woven in stone // frozen in time
This work explores the unstable nature of memory and its kinship with myth. It began with a childhood memory from Rauðisandur, where my father told me about a stone used by trolls to play music: a “Flutestone.” The image of that beach and the large troll’s stone remains vivid in my mind. But when I returned years later, the stone was no longer there. Perhaps it never was. This tension between what is remembered and what is real mirrors the space that folklore inhabits. These are stories that may not be entirely factual, yet they are believed, felt, and lived. My collection exists within this uncertain space. It treats memory as a material: shifting, textured, and sometimes deceptive. The garments act as anchors, giving form to something that might otherwise vanish. I also drew inspiration from classical sculpture, especially the way marble is carved to resemble soft fabric. Like trolls frozen in sunlight, I wanted my garments to capture a sense of motion and hold it still, thus offering evidence of something that may never have happened. The collection merges woven textile development and garment design into a single, iterative process. I worked simultaneously on both elements, allowing draping to inform textile structures, and letting fabric behavior shape the silhouettes. The goal was to embed movement and texture directly into the woven material, rather than applying them post-production. I primarily used wool and viscose, selected for their contrasting properties: wool shrinks significantly when washed, while viscose retains its original dimensions. By strategically combining the two, I created controlled distortions and surface textures within the fabric, resulting in forms that appear shaped and draped. Weaving was not only a technical process but a conceptual one. The textile holds memory: it records the tension, the shrinkage, the layers of construction. The garments, in turn, bring those memories into physical form. I explored how structure and flow could coexist within a single piece. Focusing on how something static could still evoke movement.
Competitions
