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# Project Description Elle se souvient de tout, les parfums les couleurs Alona Nelly Cohen Summary Final work Awards Winner | Maison/0 Green Trail I’m a print designer working with natural dyes, traditional techniques, and sustainable materials. My practice is driven by a deep respect for craft and its ability to carry stories, rituals, and meaning. Through painting, dyeing, and collaborative making, I explore how design can connect people, honor process, and offer thoughtful alternatives to the fast-paced textile industry. I’m a print designer working with natural dyes, traditional techniques, and sustainable materials... College Central Saint Martins Course BA (Hons) Fashion Design: Print Graduation year 2025 I wanted this collection to be a celebration of the plurality of jewish culture. It is a way for me to revive worlds that have faded into the past. And I started to recreate them with my paintings through my own modern experience and the memories I borrowed. I grew up with the stories of Sephardic Jews, who, despite exile, never ceased weaving, embroidering, or making jewelry. This collection is built from these borrowed memories and fragments of lives shaped by exile, celebrating the traditions and craftsmanship of Sepharadic and Mizrahi Jews. I realized how textiles have long carried the weight of memory and heritage. Across generations, fabric has preserved stories, rituals, and symbols that words could not capture. I painted many motifs as a reminders of a time when craft was a common language—when Jewish and Arab hands shaped the same patterns and told shared stories. Though much has been lost, I believe these gestures and symbols still hold the power to connect communities The pomegranate, for instance, a shared sign of protection and prosperity, appeared often in my research. The peel used to be grinded by craftsmen’s to create jewelry that would leave a fragrance and was believed to protect women. To me pomegranate was always present in my house, we eat it to celebrate the new year, and it always connected me to my grandmother, as her memory fades she still remembers the taste of pomegranate and quince marmelade from the garden she had in Tunisia. I used these element in my work, the fruit found its way in my paintings but also as a dye. I too grinded its the peel like craftsmen once did, it left on the fabric a lingering smell and a subtle orange hue. Circularity took another meaning as I made the collection. It wasn’t only about the materials themselves, but how these stories could inform the design, the paintings, and the processes. Ritual naturally seeped into my process—dyeing wool in indigo, weaving metal and linen yarn, or stitching my drawings onto paper silk with naturally dyed thread. These quiet, repetitive acts became daily rituals, each one a nod to ancient techniques, and my way to bring heritage forward. Each piece in the collection is made using 100% natural-based fibers and mostly hand painted, printed or dyed with natural pigments, a deliberate rejection of harmful synthetic materials that dominate the industry During my degree, Florence Hawkins, a print technician and natural dye specialist at Central Saint Martins, guided me with patience and opened my eyes to the endless possibilities of natural dyes. Her support and help was crucial to me. I also worked with Paulien Van den Brande, a talented weaver. Together we created some of the woven elements of the collection. In addition to textiles, I collaborated with Raz Akta, one of the last Jewish Yemeni silversmiths who still masters a nearly forgotten technique of Jewish silverwork. Through fabric, silver, and dye, I hold onto these past stories—not out of nostalgia, but because I believe in the quiet strength they carry. The symbols and gestures of craftsmanship are not just echoes of the past; they become the threads that weave people together. This collection act as a bridge between past and future, showing how cultural memory can shape ecological thinking and offer alternative to the textile industry. Final work View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery Research and process View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery Share this project I wanted this collection to be a celebration of the plurality of jewish culture. It is a way for me to revive worlds that have faded into the past. And I started to recreate them with my paintings through my own modern experience and the memories I borrowed. I grew up with the... A link to this page has been added to your clipboard Browse related work Craft & Process Climate Emergency Archives & Collections Sustainability Fashion Textiles Natural PrintDesign ScreenPrinting Painting Embroidery
# Links ## Official page - https://ualshowcase.arts.ac.uk/project/668335/cover ## External - https://www.instagram.com/alonanellycohen - tel:+41788345035 - mailto:Alonanellycohen@gmail.com - https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F668335%2Fcover&text=Elle+se+souvient+de+tout%2C+les+parfums+les+couleurs - https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F668335%2Fcover&media=https%3A%2F%2Fportfolio-tools.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F06%2F17183015%2FIMG_1083.jpeg&description=Elle+se+souvient+de+tout%2C+les+parfums+les+couleurs