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Damaged Goods: Uncovering the beauty of wear

Lottie Frei

Profile picture of Lottie Frei

Lottie Frei is a London based textile artist celebrating the beauty of worn garments and the memories they hold. Through sublimation printing, darning, and stitching, she transforms preloved clothing into delicate mementos. These artworks honour imperfection, memory, and emotional connection, encouraging us to value the stories held within our clothing. 

Lottie Frei is a London based textile artist celebrating the beauty of worn garments and th...

My final major project is a celebration of worn textiles and the quiet stories woven into their imperfections. Each tear, stain, and hole carries a memory that speaks to the life of the garment and the person who once wore it. I sought to honour these fragments of memory by working directly with preloved clothing using sublimation printing. 

Through the process of sublimating the garments, then stitching and darning them to highlight the flaws that make each piece unique, they transformed into delicate mementos of lives lived and cherished. These printed pieces serve not just as art, but as gentle reminders to value the clothing we already own, to see beauty in wear and damage, and to treasure the emotional resonance embedded in our textiles.

My hope is to encourage a deeper connection with our belongings, to see further beyond the fabric to the memory, emotion, and identity stitched into every seam.

Final work

  • model wearing green jumper beside green jumper print
  • model standing in front of yellow jumper print
  • Model holding bronze dress print
left; orange jumper dye sublimation print. Right; model wearing orange jumper

Orange Jumper

This image shows a print of an old moth eaten jumper which I dyed in sublimation ink and printed onto fabric. I stitched back into it with pieces of the old jumper and highlighted the moth holes with stitching techniques.

Model wearing violet pyjamas and green socks

Violet Pyjamas and Green Socks

Violet pyjamas and green sock sublimation sock prints worn by model. I stitched back into the prints with pieces of the original garments.

Left; image of sublimated blue vest. Top Right; zoomed in image of label. Bottom Right; zoomed in image of stitching.

Blue Vest

Image of sublimated moth eaten blue vest - double layered print with the first layer stitched into. I digitally embroidered my own name into the labels of the old garments.

Research and process

Images of sublimated sleeves on paper

Sleeve Prints

Left; stitched into images of coin purses. Right; Textile token drawings

Process Drawings

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Damaged Goods: Uncovering the beauty of wear

My final major project is a celebration of worn textiles and the quiet stories woven into their imperfections. Each tear, stain, and hole carries a memory that speaks to the life of the garment and the person who once wore it. I sought to honour these fragments of memory by wo...

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