Jake Leith

Jake Leith is the principal designer of The Jake Leith Partnership.

Born on November 18, 1958 in Bushey, Hertfordshire, Jake studied at Loughborough College of Art and Design, graduating with a BA(Hons) in Printed Textiles in 1981. Subsequently, in 1982, he completed an MA in Textiles & Fashion at the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design.

His professional career began in India as an Export Designer for Everest Fabrics, based in Uttar Pradesh, North India, designing and manufacturing printed furnishing fabrics and interior textiles for markets in Asia, Europe and North America. The latter included the design and supply of furnishing fabrics to Jack Lenor-Larsen in New York.

Free-lance work during this period included designing for International Linen and Liberty of London, and the Taj Hotel Group of India.

In 1984, Leith returned to the UK and became a Textile Advisor/Interior Designer for Europa Shop Equipment. Design projects included: Pineapple Dance Studios and Parrish of Newcastle. He co-founded the design consultancy Fantasy Finishes in 1985, specialising in paint finishes, murals and design-to-order wall-coverings. Clients included Monsoon, Anokhi, Oasis Trading and Vaux Breweries.

Since 1986 he has been the senior partner of the interior design company, The Jake Leith Partnership. Particular areas of expertise include, furnishing fabrics, wallcoverings and surface pattern - ranging from wrapping paper to stained glass.

Interior contracts have included: Barratt Homes, Beazer, BP, barristers' chambers at Lincoln's Inn and Gray's Inn, Intersport, Planmasters UK, SAS Holdings, Connections in Design and Communications Management.

During the 1990s, Leith realised that Business & Professional Practice was not a recognised area of study on most UK Art & Design courses. So he introduced such a programme at Loughborough University School of Art & Design, aiming to equip students with a range of transferable skills, qualities and attitudes to prepare them for life beyond graduation in the creative industries. In 1998 he was asked to co-ordinate Business & Professional Practice across the faculty. In 2003, he joined the University of Brighton and currently leads the Business & Professional Practice in the University's School of Art, Design & Media.

Since 1983 Leith has been an active member of the Chartered Society of Designers (CSD), he was made a Fellow in 1995, a Member of Council and Trustee in 1997, Chair of the Fashion & Textile Group in 2002, a Member of the Executive Committee in 2003, and was elected Vice President in 2004 and Honorary Secretary in 2008.

On November 30, 2011, At the 36th AGM of the Chartered Society of Designers, he was elected President of the Society, having served as President Elect for the previous two years.

In June 2012 Leith received the Freedom of the City of London and admission to the Livery of the Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters.

Jake Leith’s research focuses on workforce development within the design industry, developing new high-level skills for practitioners, continuing professional development from student to practitioner, and practice focused staff development for teacher practitioners. His research aims ‘to understand how the eLearning method of teaching delivery can contribute to flexibility of learning in design-led practice based courses’1 through examining how the adoption of online learning and teaching techniques on practice-based courses, within the field of art and design, has often been seen as controversial, due to the vocational nature of the discipline.

His research also focuses on informing ‘HE’s understanding of the role of teacher-practitioners.’2 On the Co-working Project (2011) he explored the experiences of fashion and textile teacher-practitioners in HE, and observed how they facilitate student learning and enhanced student employability in the fashion and textiles industry.

He contributed to two papers entitled ‘Guidance for the Employability Leads’ (2011) and ‘Employability & Enterprise’ (2012), University of Brighton. The papers offered guidance within the schools and central departments regarding employability.

In March 2012, he co-ordinated and chaired the ‘From Learning to Earning’ Conference in Brighton, a collaboration between the Chartered Society of Designers & University of Brighton, following a successful bid for funding from the Higher Education Academy. The conference explored whether professional accreditation of designers through a structured pathway and continuing professional development would address some of the issues surrounding how design is evaluated and qualified and in particular challenging the reliance on viewing a portfolio as the only means for making such a choice.

In June 2012, he contributed to Art & Design and…Management, Innovation and Business Studies Symposium4. In July 2012 he gave a public lecture entitled ‘The Changing face of Marketing within the Fashion Sector’ as part of the Festival of Learning and has been an invited panel member at the MDHUB Opinions debate in Brighton entitled ‘What positive inspiration is growing out of Sussex’s creative revival?’3

Throughout 2013 Jake Leith has been responsible for leading the Fashion Business International Development Initiative for The British Council in collaboration with The University of Brighton, in Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Morocco. The requested focus from the British Council and the governments of the countries involved was SME/micro business development through innovation and entrepreneurship. This ongoing programme aims to give an understanding of key areas in the Global Fashion Industry business providing practitioners and students with the knowledge required to successfully carve a career in the sector.