GEEENGRADS: Lydia Hill wins the Epson ECO STORIES Textile Challenge at the Surface Design Show, London
“Design can better our world by expanding empathy and education, to increase awareness – that’s why I am a GREEN GRAD” - Lydia Hill.
"After many years of feeling out of place, I have found like-minded people who share my passion for the planet. Amazing advice from industry professionals has given me the confidence and encouragement to pursue my goals and aim higher than before.”
WRITTEN BY: Barbara Chandler – Co-Founder | GreenGrads
GREEN GRADS is so happy to announce that the winner of ECO STORIES, the 2025 GREEN GRADS EPSON TEXTILE CHALLENGE is Lydia Hill (MA Textiles, Royal College of Art, 2025.)
Lydia also won a state-of- the-art compact Epson SureColor printer, which can apply her designs to all types of textiles, either light or dark. Epson UK & I are long-time GREEN GRADS sponsors, and the 2026 Award presentation was on the GREEN GRADS stand at the Surface Design Show.
Doing the honours was Charlie de la Haye Epson marketing strategist and sustainability advocate, and Polly Chapman, also delivering Epson’s sustainability goals, and mentoring future talent.
This Award, nurtured by GREEN GRADS textile consultant Debbie McKeegan of TEXINTEL, is for a collection of pattern(s) that reflect the designer’s environmental concerns and/or love of the natural world on cloth.
Past winners have taken such diverse themes as the joy of an allotment, the exotic beauty of a personal garden, animals in danger of extinction, the rewilded Knepp Estate in East Sussex, the conservation of Biddulph Grange Garden in Staffordshire and the biodiversity of Norfolk meadows and marshes.
Lydia calls her winning portfolio Going, Going, Gone which she says is “gentle activism. ” It draws attention to the British butterfly crisis.
Using handmade natural inks, and scrupulous references at the Natural History Museum, she has meticulously depicted three main groups on the Red List of British Butterflies: the Vulnerable, the Endangered and the Extinct, together with their host plants. “To mimic this loss of life, I have made a pictorial timeline where the designs fade out. My Vulnerable design uses bright colours with embellishments, the Endangered design begins to fade and lose colour, whilst the Extinct design is in monotone that vanishes to white.
It's a deliberately stark contrast.” Spreading awareness in this softer way, she goes on, can reach people who may have previously shut out more strident environmental messages through fear or worry. “An uplifting print design can gently draw people in.”
Lydia has wallpapers and fabrics ready for market, along with cushions, tea towels, prints and stationery. Future ranges may include other overlooked endangered species within the UK and further afield. She will experiment with embroidery to embellish her art prints.
“Design can better our world by expanding empathy and education, to increase awareness – that’s why I am a GREEN GRAD. After many years of feeling out of place, I have found like-minded people who share my passion for the planet. Amazing advice from industry professionals has given me the confidence and encouragement to pursue my goals and aim higher than before.”
