Adélie Beese-Leroux

Two machine knitted garments one top and skirt hung in Adélie's bathroom. The garments are on the tiled wall suspended with tape

Originally from Brighton Adélie Beese-Leroux is a knitted textile/knitwear designer based in London. She delves into tough topics such as mental health, which for her is vital to tackling the stigmas that come with the subject. Adélie’s work aims to get viewers to question the work in front of them, whilst also considering their own mental health.

Adélie found her love for all things knit when she was taught to hand knit by her grandma many years ago. This love for knitting continued when she went on to study BA Textile Design at Central Saint Martin’s graduating in 2021 with a first class honours. She was fortunate to work in the Knitwear industry during her placement year on her BA.

During her MA at the Royal College of Art Adélie gained The Kay Cosserat scholarship, a Commendation from the Shima Seiki competition and a Yarn sponsorship from Lineapiù Italia. This allowed her to push her ideas to their fullest potential.

Awards

Commendation from the Shima Seiki Competition (2023)

The Kay Cosserat Scholarship (2022)

The Textile Society Bursary (2021)

Fashion and Textile Design Scholarship at Donghua University (2019)

Image of Adélie standing at a Dubied knitting machine in the knit room at the RCA.

Restriction and Freedom

Adélie’s practice is inspired by the pressures of everyday life, especially living in today’s society. She uses performance and knitwear as her platform to express her struggles. Her project explores the conflict between Restriction and Freedom and how this can effect people's emotions and actions. In her earlier research, Adélie explored the subject allowing her body to find out how restriction can affect her movements personally.

During the exploratory process of her research, Adélie decided to respond to her findings by knitting using Solvron Yarn which dissolves in 55ºC water. This yarn signifies the movements and emotions that panic can create as they restrict and slowly reclaim control. The yarn manipulates the knit by dissolving or creating fluid movements such as ruching. For Adélie, this symbolises the feeling when your stomach knots through worry.

The performance and knitted garments are created to give this feeling of uncertainty. Much of the work is often photographed and filmed in a bathroom setting. This is where the dissolving takes place and represents this feeling of washing away the worries of the day allowing yourself to be free.