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Jessica Light | Passementier

Jessica Light is London’s last working passementerie weaver, a custodian of an East End craft that stretches back centuries. Dubbed the “Tassel Queen of Bethnal Green,” she hand-weaves richly tactile trims, tassels, and tiebacks in her East London workshop, blending 15th-century techniques with an unmistakably contemporary touch. Her work—seen everywhere from Buckingham Palace to collaborations with Vivienne Westwood—is defined by bold color, unexpected materials, and an anarchic approach to tradition. During this year’s London Craft Week (May 11-17, 2026), Light will present her collections at East London Cloth’s Vyner Street showroom, with plans to open her Bethnal Green studio for an intimate tassel-making session.

How did you begin?

I’ve always made things since I was a child, toys, clothes, etc and it seemed a natural progression to go to art school where I did a degree in textiles. The minute I got behind a loom, I knew I wanted to be a weaver. One of the big visual influences that sealed the deal was finding a book on Navajo blankets in the college library. I was blown away by the colours and abstract patterns.

It was also during my student years I was introduced to the amazing work of Anni Albers, Peter Collingwood, Ethel Mairet, Gunta Stolzl and Marianne Staub which inspired my weaving. Ann Sutton's amazing books on weaving also shaped my 'weavaverse'.

How did you learn?

My final degree project was a collection of woven ribbons, and it was a visiting tutor, Annette O’Toole, who suggested I went to see Wendy Cushing, who had a passementerie workshop in Bethnal Green. She offered me a job and trained me in the art of passementerie. Wendy was herself trained in East London by Sindals, one of the most famous passementerie factories in the East End of London.

When I was working at Wendy Cushing, we were doing a lot of restoration work as Wendy is an expert in historic passementerie, so I learnt all the woven trim techniques from the 16th century onwards. I worked for Wendy for a total of six years so when I left, I not only had a vast cannon of skills but also years of practise honing those skills.

After my first day at Wendy’s I wrote in my diary ‘this is my job’, and 30 years later I’m still as in love and passionate about passementerie.

Who or what most influences your work?

Everything! I’m a big absorber of cultural stimulation. Art, design, books, music, films, and my surroundings are all elements that find their way into my work. I tend to mix up references as I’m always inspired by so many things. For example, my Shoreham collection grew from walking in the Kent Downs and the shapes and colours made by the landscape as it changed through the seasons.

At the same time, I was looking at the Modernist abstract artist Brice Lazzari, and influences from her paintings also made their way into this collection or take my Potsdam collection that resulted from the colours and shapes I imagined whilst listening to Township Jazz. I’m a big collector of images, postcards, bits and pieces that catch my eye and I have a physical pinboard that all these things go onto and that often informs my creative direction. I find images and objects start to group themselves into colours and stories, and a creative narrative starts to form.

How do you plan, prepare, and create?

I don’t have a set creative process. It changes all the time. Sometimes it’s the concept that drives the feel of a collection, other times it’s the materials or the colours. It can be all three at once and all elements interact with each other. I spend a lot of time on color palettes, playing with different combinations and hues. I’m interested in unexpected combinations and putting colors together that aren’t obvious.

I also like to mix materials together and am trying to use what I already have rather than always buying in new materials. I tend to design as I make as I find it makes the design process much more organic. I rarely design everything on paper first as I like the unexpected ideas that come when I’m at the loom weaving and experimenting with different colour, material and dimensions.

I edit a lot. [Every new] product or collection has been through a rigorous journey of adding or taking away design elements and tweaking size, scale, color placement, and dimension until I’m happy with the outcome.

If I’m working on a bespoke order or commission, I’m working with the client. This will take the form of color-matching, working drawings, taking inspiration from my existing products and looking at scale and materials. This can be a long process because it's important that the client's vision is realized. I will do working drawings with color swatches and dimensions so the client can visualise [the potential commission]. Once a design, color and cost quote has been approved it may take some time before an order is put in. My lead-times for bespoke passementerie are usually six to eight weeks.

What does a typical day look like?

I work out of my workshop in Bethnal Green. Again, I don’t have a set routine as every job or commission is different. I usually start with emails, enquiries, and press requests. This process can start as early as 6 or 7am if there is a lot of admin, which also includes working on quotes, invoices, maybe some working drawings for customers.

I then start making or weaving which will hopefully be an uninterrupted three to five hour stretch. I work on anything, from small single tassel orders to handmade or hand-woven small-batch production. Some days can be spent just packing and dispatching orders, sourcing and ordering materials for orders or having to set up, style and photograph new work. I usually end my day with going through more emails and enquiries, and I usually finish work about 7 to 7:30pm, sometimes later as there is so much to get through each day. I have an ongoing to-do list which never gets any shorter.

A contemporary maker whose work excites you?

Perhaps not a maker in the traditional sense, but a maker of magic, Gemma Moulton of CC Moulton and East London Cloth. She has amazing creative vision and works with many makers and traditional UK industries like Suffolk silk weaving mills. Her fabrics are the most exciting and innovative in Interiors at the moment

What music do you listen to while you work?

I always listen to music when I weave. Weaving is rhythmic so the tempo of what I’m listening to can determine the speed at which I weave and help the uniformity and quality of weaving. I’ve found that Status Quo are the perfect band to weave to!?!

A place that most inspires you, anywhere in the world?

Knole House, Sevenoaks [the former home of Vita Sackville-West, which inspired her book, Orlando]. It has the most amazing collation of original 17th-century passementerie.

An object you’ll never part with?

My grandmother's wedding ring.

Interview by Lucrezia Lucas

Images from Kasia Bobula, Kirstin Perers and Jessica Light