Fashion and textile students are displaying their work at Braintree District Museum.

The exhibition, entitled “Free Spirit”, sees work by students from The College at Braintree which has been inspired by the renowned twentieth century textile designer Eddie Squires.

Born in Grimsby, Squires started working for Warner and Sons Ltd, now Warner Fabrics, in 1963 and became known for his bold new designs, including the famous Lunar Rocket in 1969.

Students visited the Warner Textile Archive, located in the original Warner and Son’s Ltd mill building, Silks Way, Braintree, and which showcases a unique collection of more than 60,000 textiles, 10,000 paper designs, pattern books, record books, photographs and documentary material, for inspiration.

The students then reinterpreted Squires’ iconic 1960s designs, using a variety of media including collage, wax resist, stencil and block printing, as part of their course.

The exhibition has already attracted the interest of big names in the fashion industry, with Anthony Humphreys, head of Yum Design and former Creative Director of French Connection, attending the exhibition’s private view on April 2.

Jennifer Brown, Collections and Interpretation Officer at Braintree District Museum, said: “It is lovely to see the Warner Textile Archive’s collections being actively used and reinterpreted by a new generation of designers.”

The exhibition at Braintree District Museum is running Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm until May 22.