Cornish Workwear: Inspired & Worn by Our Seasalt Artists

Our Chief Creative Officer Laura creates quilt-inspired pottery in her spare time. She and her daughter Tilda wear our new practical, beautiful pieces for a day in the studio.


Laura Watson has been working with Seasalt for nearly a decade, starting as a knitwear designer. Today, she leads our design team as they create the stories and themes of each collection. In her spare time, she translates her love of textiles into delicately stamped ceramic pieces. 

So who better to model our new collection of Cornish Workwear, inspired by and designed for a life in the studio?  

I’ve been at Seasalt for 10 years last August. I started as a designerGetting to grips with Illustrator was one of my first achievements 

Today I lead the look and feel of the Seasalt collections. I start with the story of a collection, then oversee as our teams interpret it to ensure the right balance of creativity and commerciality. I also sit on the Management Boardreally enjoy using my creative brain to help shape strategy.

The apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Tilda loves colour, pattern, textiles, shoes, bags, jewellery – she is studying fashion with print at Central St Martins. We’re very close and speak at least twice every day. She is brave, beautiful and funny – she really makes me laugh and we share some very bad taste in TV. 

Tilda says, “My parents inspired my interest in fashion, especially in vintage clothing and sustainability. I have so many fond memories of different exhibitions and shows that we have gone to together.

My pieces often start with trying to reinterpret print and textiles in new ways. I lean towards methods that are crafted, like weaving, patchwork or screen printing, because of the tactile relationship I get with the work.”

The history of artists and ceramicists in Cornwall is a key part of our aesthetic. Smocks, aprons and overalls layered over Breton stripes, with neckerchiefs to keep hair out of their faces whilst working – this has been the starting point for many of our best-selling styles. 

The paint palettes and brushes; the marks and textures of paint and clay on canvas and wood; the layers of colour from paints and glazes are all very much part of our handwriting.

I love how the women who wear our clothes respond to colour, texture, pattern and qualityAs well as practical, affordable clothing, our customer wants something that speaks to her on an emotional level. I can really relate to that. Clothes are such an important part of how we express ourselves as individuals.  

I’ll always love textiles, but that’s become my day job. Ceramics allow for a different kind of creativity. I don’t have to worry about whether someone wants to buy it – it’s just for me. 

During an evening course in ceramics at Truro College, I got really obsessed with translating my love of quilted textures into clay.  

It behaves very like fabric but there is a whole new world of techniques and decoration to learn about that I find really exciting. I also love the end vessels and how tactile and practical they are. 

Finding inspiration, for me, is normally to do with capturing a mood – a feeling. Maybe a walk, or an exhibition, a visit to a new place or a book will trigger something. Then, I’ll start to collect and curate images, words, colours and textures to help bring it to life. 

You can see more of Laura’s ceramics on her Instagram, @_folklaura_. Thank you to Sam Marks for allowing us to photograph in his Morgans Gallery studio in Falmouth. If you’ve been inspired to create something we’d love to see, just use #seasaltmakes when you share. 

Discover the Cornish Workwear Collection