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

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

Following her graduation from the prestigious École Lesage, Paris, in 2018 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 featured in Selvedge Magazine, Surface Design Journal, The Stitcher’s Journal, The Maker’s Atelier and books including Embellishment and RÉBÉ. 

In 2019 Rebecca established Textile Tours of Paris to share her love of the rich heritage of craft, textiles and fashion woven into the fabric of Paris. Since 2020, Rebecca teaches online courses in embroidery and the history of luxury French textiles. Samplers of Seduction was launched in 2022, a collection of beautiful embroidery kits inspired by – 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 include Paris, London, Dublin, Lyon, and with more to come.

www.textiletoursofparis.com

Awards