Textile designer Gina Nadal, founder of Woven Memories, joins us for Friday Five to discuss a rug designer she adores, the movie that inspires her work, and more!

When Gina Nadal fell in love with textile weaving ? the mathematical thinking, the color and design opportunities, and the traditions and cultures behind it ? she fell hard. The Manchester-based Catalan designer was first introduced to the practice during her undergraduate studies in Arts and Design at Escola Massana, but she would take it much further.
“I explored various disciplines, from product design to painting. In one unit, I had to explore sculpture, jewelry, and textiles. Initially, none of these resonated with me until my textile lecturer encouraged me to try weaving,” Nadal admits. “But weaving became an instant passion, offering a unique language of expression through colors, yarns, and textures.” After graduating in 2014, she went on to receive her MA in Fashion Graphics from Manchester School of Art in 2015, exploring ways to synergize weaving with digital coding in order to create products that hold emotional value for their owners.
Upon finishing her MA, Nadal received a fully-funded PhD scholarship from Manchester School of Art to develop an idea that would eventually turn into her business: Woven Memories. There, she was able to research the co-design process of woven textiles, the interaction of people with online interfaces, the sensory perception of natural fib...