Stephen Wilson

Stephen Wilson, born in 1970, began his career in New York City as a freelance fashion embroidery designer and now works from a studio of about 15,000 square feet in Charlotte, North Carolina. His practice, which he describes as luxury up-cycling, begins with discarded or donated luxury handbags, packaging boxes and silk scarves, which are deconstructed and used as supports. He hand-digitises each embroidery design stitch by stitch, combining machine embroidery with applique, laser cutting, 3D printing and hand finishing; collage compositions often follow vintage quilt patterns.