From the Royal Opera House to Broadway: an interview with textile designer Sara Lowes
17 March 2025
From creating headdresses for the costume archive of London’s Royal Opera House, to designing mouse and bird headdresses for the Britney Spears musical Once Upon a One More Time on Broadway, Sara’s sustainable company Animalesque creates bespoke items from waste fabrics.
Perfect for festivals, weddings, and theatre productions, Sara’s work is committed to slow, circular design, and aims to celebrate play and inspire transformation. As a Textile Design BA(Hons) graduate, we chatted to Sara to learn more about how she went from textiles student to designer and founder of her own headdress collection.
What part has Falmouth played in helping you to build your career?
Falmouth was such an inspiring place to study; not just because of its beautiful and natural surroundings, but because of the Fashion & Textiles Institute itself. With its open plan set-up, and its brilliant textile facilities and equipment, it always had such an exciting, creative buzz. The textile design course, with the support of the wonderful practicing tutors, gave me the confidence and technical skills needed to explore and experiment. I also made lifelong friends and creative peers. I would love to go back and do it all over again!
What interests you most about the work you’re creating through Animalesque?
The significance of the materials I collect and work with has always been integral to my design process. I strive to use re-claimed textiles whenever possible, finding inspiration in their history, imperfections, and character. I’m drawn to the creative challenge of working within their constraints – allowing their colours, shapes, textures, and patterns to guide each piece or collection. This approach has enabled me to work on some wonderful collaborations with theatres such as the Royal Opera House, fashion brands worldwide, and artisans in Gujarat where we’ve reimagined and repurposed surplus textiles into something fresh and meaningful.
What's a highlight you’d like to share with us about your recent work and collaborations?
I love working on theatre projects, the last one being for a Broadway show, where I made mice and bird headdresses for Once Upon a One More Time. It's so exciting to be part of a bigger team and see the behind-the-scenes of a production like this, where you see it come together from sketch to costume to stage. This is where Animalesque began, so the animals feel very much at home in the theatre world.
I’ve also just finished working on a lovely commission for the Royal Cornwall Museum, in collaboration with Cornwall Wildlife Trust. To celebrate and raise awareness of some of Cornwall’s endangered species, we created a custom collection of headdresses inspired by the Cornish chough, elephant hawk moth, Cornish black bee, and seagrass.
What can you tell us about your creative plans for the future?
I’ve been quietly working on a new project for the last few years and I’m excited to finally shift my focus toward it this year. It’s an evolving collaboration with rural artisans in Kutch, India, working with traditionally sustainable techniques to repurpose and transform waste fabric into one-of-a-kind garments and textiles.
What advice do you have for students setting out on their Falmouth University journey?
Make the most of all the amazing equipment, facilities, and the wealth of knowledge and experience that the tutors can share with you. Soak up the beautiful coastal landscapes around you and enjoy this time of creative and personal exploration and experimentation – it’s a very special time.
External links
Instagram: @animalesque
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