Lecture (Zoom – Saturday morning): Textile Tours of Paris with Rebecca Devaney

Rebecca Devaney is a textile artist, researcher, and teacher with a BA in Art, Craft and Design Education (2006), an MFA in Textile Art and Artefact (2015) and recipient of the Education Award for excellence in teaching practice (2006) from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin.

She received the prestigious Thomas Dammann Junior Memorial Trust Award (2015), to research hand embroidery in Mexico and the resulting exhibition, Bordados, a collection of photographs, interviews, and textiles, has been presented internationally.

In 2018, following her graduation from École Lesage, Paris, Rebecca worked as a professional haute couture embroiderer for Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Dior, Valentino, Givenchy, and Louis Vuitton. Her research into the origins, history and heritage of haute couture embroidery has been published and presented internationally.

Rebecca established Textile Tours of Paris in 2019 to share her love of the rich heritage of textiles woven through the fabric of Paris, giving guided tours of the haberdasheries (notions stores) and vintage textile and fashion experts at the oldest flea market in Paris.

In 2022, Rebecca launched Samplers of Seduction, a collection of beautiful embroidery kits inspired by 18th century patterns and designs hidden in the libraries and museums of Paris. In 2023, Rebecca and Jo Andrews began publishing Textile Travels, a series of guides for the intrepid textile traveller that includes Paris, London, Dublin, Lyon, Venice and New York. Rebecca will launch her first television series on the Joie de Vivre streaming network in 2024.