Doncaster teacher is up for a big fashion award in New Zealand

Kerry Fewster, a fashion and art lecturer at Doncaster College and the designer behind independent leather studio VELLUM, will see her work take to the stage this September as part of the internationally renowned World of WearableArt (WOW) Awards Show.

Her piece, Where She Left the Needle, has successfully progressed through the international selection and judging process and will appear in the Avant-Garde category of the 2026 production.

The work has a deeply personal connection to Kerry’s Yorkshire roots and was inspired by the tapestries made by her grandmother.

Combining hand-formed leather, sections of tapestry and vintage wool, the piece explores the contrast between the beautiful finished surface of traditional needlework and the tangled threads, knots and unfinished work normally hidden behind it.

Rather than concealing those elements, Kerry made them part of the design.

The piece started with my grandma’s tapestries.

She said: “I was fascinated not only by the finished images, but by what was happening behind them, the knots, loose threads and areas she hadn’t completed and where she literally left her needle.

“I wanted an element of the work to feel as though someone had simply put the needle down and walked away, leaving the making process visible.

“To now see something so personal make it all the way to an international stage in New Zealand is quite surreal.”

Kerry works across fashion, leathercraft, wearable art and education and currently teaches Fashion and Art at Doncaster College, part of DN Colleges Group.

Alongside her teaching, she has continued to develop her own creative practice, specialising in sculptural leather pieces that explore the relationship between material, body, craft and storytelling.

Kerry hopes that reaching an international competition while continuing to work within further education will also provide a valuable message for her students.

“One of the biggest things I try to teach my students is that experimentation matters,” she continued

“You don't always know where an idea is going when you start it.

“I spend my working week encouraging young creatives to take risks, develop their own visual language and put their work out into the world, so I think it’s important that I continue doing exactly that myself.”