Linda Rowe’s Obituary | Fashion

My wife, Linda Rowe, who died of acute pancreatitis at the age of 64, was a clothing and textile designer. We met on an art foundation course at St Martin’s School of Art in 1976. I went to Chelsea School of Art but went on to study fashion and design alongside singer Sade Adu, milliner Stephen Jones and academic and cultural commentator Iain R Webb. From St. Martin, Linda, known to her friends as Lolu, immersed herself in the 80s underground music scene, making waves with her Milliner company, Black Habit (1985-87) with Steve Dash.

After the birth of our son Louis in 1991 and daughter Eve in 1995, South London-based Linda founded Closework (1997), one of the UK’s first ethical and sustainable clothing labels. In the year In 2002, Linda moved to a chapel in Bradford where she launched Boutique Etique (2006), extending her ethical approach to the fashion business through the use of interlinings, biodegradable binders and dye-free textiles. Toxic chemicals.

She became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (2011-14) and pursued an MA in Textiles at Bath Spa University in 2012, co-founding the Sim Collection with fellow students Desiree Jeans, Tabitha Stewart and Penny Wheeler. After working alone in her studio for many years and raising a family, she found collaborating to be more successful and rewarding with lasting results. At Seam, she met like-minded and talented individuals who valued sharing ideas and friendship. Co-Guaranteed Arts Council funding to create plant-based textiles. Most recently, she developed Foraged Color to show how sustainable textiles can be made from farm yarn, natural dyes and with minimal waste.

Linda has had a long-standing interest in evaluating the effects of radiation from cell phones and WiFi on human health, and in In 2014, she received her PhD from the Manchester Fashion Institute at Manchester Metropolitan University. It is prepared to avoid such radiation for the electro-sensitive population. Before her death, she was awarded her Ph.D.

Linda was born in Bushey, Hertfordshire, to Dora (nee Aves), a weaver, and Ronald Kerr, who had a publishing business, and attended school in Hemel Hempstead. Her maternal grandfather, Owen Aves, co-founded the Institute of Optometry (London Refractive Hospital) in South London in 1922.

In the year In 2021, we moved to Stroud, Gloucestershire, where Linda has four acres of gardens, including a wildflower meadow, allowing her to experiment with dye plants and grow her new favorite crop, flax. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her and understood her love for life and the arts.

Linda is survived by me, Louie and Eve, her brother Tony and two sisters Jenny and Sue.