Welcome to the woolly wonderland of Donna Wilson: a place where pattern and colour collide, and the imagination is free to run wild.
Originally from rural Aberdeenshire in the north of Scotland, Donna Wilson founded her design studio in 2003, having been propelled into the dizzy heights of the design world following her sell-out final show at the Royal College of Art. Her entire collection was promptly snapped up by design entrepreneur Murray Moss, founder of influential New York store Moss – perhaps unsurprisingly, considering her earlier ‘Donna Dolls’ had already been stocked by influential West London boutique Coverture.
As her collection has expanded from curious knitted creatures to colourful homeware, knitwear and accessories, so has her appeal, earning her a dedicated fan base around the globe. Crowned as Elle Decoration’s Designer of the Year in 2010, over the course of her career Wilson has collaborated with internationally-acclaimed brands including Hermès, Mamas&Papas, John Lewis and LeSportsac, world-renowned cultural institutions including V&A, CooperHewitt and The Hepworth Wakefield, and exhibited her work around the world.
As a fore-runner of the contemporary craft movement, Donna has remained true to her principles, using traditional techniques and locally-based suppliers wherever possible. While the Donna Wilson design studio still resides in East London, in 2021, she established her own micro factory, The Knit Shop, in Dundee, Scotland. The Knit Shop produces much of Donna Wilson’s own collection, as well as offering a range of design, sampling and manufacturing services to other designers, artists and students.
