Meet isobel Mills | Textile Designer and Fiber Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with isobel Mills and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi isobel, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My thought process behind starting my own business was age and passion based. I was almost 27yrs old and miserable in my career(s),and up until this point, I was under utilized in my job(s). I knew I had a passion I could no longer ignore and my boss at the time had started his business in his late twenties and essentially told me that my life is as uncomplicated as it’ll ever be, so if I’m going to do what I love it needs to be now. I used the savings that I had and the passion in my heart and made it my business to create a business, learn all I could about the industry/manufactures and launch a collection within the year. With luck and lots of support from old bosses and teachers, it happened.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My art is all about texture, color and of course, fabric! I love seeing something and reinterpreting it in a more 3d form with a variety of fabric manipulation techniques: pleats, ruffles, smocking, circle in lay, etc. Any excuse to use my hands and construct and create is where I thrive. I love exploring new techniques and combining my passions for design and sculpting- every piece is an experiment and I learn so much from each creative endeavor.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I had and have countless people in my corner to thank: Ralph Harvard, Nicholas Varney, Gene Meyer, Frank De Biasi, Clay McLaurin, Barry Hutner and my parent’s/family. All of these people have helped get me to where I am today, which is 4yrs into a small, but growing textile company and I am forever grateful ,and as a result, always willing to pay it forward.

Website: www.shopisobel.com

Instagram: shopisobel

Linkedin: Isobel Mills