Hello,

I’m Fritha Lewin. I have been a designer and illustrator for over twenty years working with brands such as Manolo Blahnik, Burberry, Jo Malone, Regent Hotels, Intercontinental Hotels, the Body Shop, Jo Malone, Charlotte Tilbury and many many more. I studied for my MA in Communication Design and Illustration at Central St Martins in London.

A couple of years ago I stumbled on a new way to make illustration. It was a bit like discovering a new sound like the Moog Synthesizer or the Hammond Organ. I studied 3D digital animation at Glasgow School of Art back in the 1990s and have always used it for creating flat graphics but I started using it to make 3D bead shapes (which I call Tassays).

I knew that tartan was pretty handy for branding - eg Burberry, Barbour or even the Royal Family use tartan. In my regular work I have never seen anything in any brand guidelines that involve design for the LGBTQIA+ community. The opportunity was obvious. I am now focusing all my efforts in getting all my work seen as a part of LGBTQIA+ design and getting queer tartan into as many sofas, beds and chairs as possible!

Best wishes

Fritha

My coming out story!

When I was 7 I moved from a hippy commune in the Aberdeenshire countryside to inner city Edinburgh. I gave all my new classmates handmade glittery cards on Valentines day. I was called a lesbian. Things didn’t get much better. It took me years to come out.

When I did finally come out I couldn’t tell who was a lesbian and who wasn’t because lots of women dress like lesbians now. When I cut all my hair off I looked ridiculous - like Jimmie Krankie. I grew my hair back and made a plan. Being a designer I figured it was a design brief:

  • Find a way to meet girls, not using the horrific method of online dating but through chatting them up in coffee shops!

  • Find something that I would actually want to wear which usually involves at least
    80% black

  • Bring back the feeling of joy I had at having new classmates - and becoming that little girl who just wanted to make people happy

Et voilà - Queer Tartan