KAREN NICOL

Karen Nicol is a London-based textile artist and designer whose distinctive mixed-media and embroidered works span the worlds of fashion, interiors and contemporary art.

Over a career spanning several decades, Karen has designed and produced bespoke interior textiles for an international clientele, including the King of Qatar, Chanel, the Pope, Estée Lauder and Gwyneth Paltrow. Alongside these commissions, she has developed own-label collections of textiles and home accessories for companies around the world.

In the fashion industry, Karen has created concepts, designs and highly crafted embroidered garments for both ready-to- wear and haute couture collections. Her collaborations have included some of the most celebrated names in fashion, among them Schiaparelli, Alexander McQueen, Jasper Conran and Giles Deacon.

Since 2010, Karen has increasingly focused on large-scale embroidered, painted and sculptural artworks. Her richly textured pieces have been exhibited and collected internationally, with solo exhibitions in London, Paris and New York, as well as presentations at leading galleries and art fairs worldwide.

A respected educator, Karen was the founder, Senior Lecturer and Visiting Professor of the Mixed Media MA programme at the Royal College of Art, London. In recognition of her outstanding contribution to design, she was elected a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) in 2015—one of the highest honours awarded by the Royal Society of Arts and held by only around 200 designers worldwide.