Bonnie Kirkwood is a British woven textile designer whose practice celebrates colour, craftsmanship and sustainability. Based in Rutland, she creates vibrant, contemporary woven textiles that honour traditional techniques while embracing modern design. With over 20 years’ experience, she works across textile design, fabric development and creative collaboration.
Bonnie’s practice is influenced by colour, landscape, architecture and art, particularly the way colour, texture and pattern can evoke emotion and create a feeling through textiles. She explores these ideas through weaving, experimenting with yarn, texture, structure and colour on the hand loom. Traditional weaving techniques are an important part of her process, but she uses them in a contemporary way to develop new fabrics and products. Sustainability also plays an important role, from choosing considered materials such as British wool to working with UK manufacturers and producing on a small scale.
A graduate and former weave tutor at the Royal College of Art, Bonnie has worked with and for brands including Paul Smith, Designers Guild and Made.com, and collaborates with textile mills and manufacturers in the UK and internationally. Her work moves between original textile collections and consultancy, combining traditional weaving knowledge with contemporary design approaches and thoughtful material choices; demonstrating how craft-led research can inform distinctive, commercially relevant textile design.
Bonnie joined Design-Nation in 2024 as an Associate, and moved from Rising Professional to full Professional membership in 2026.
