In 2009, woven textile designers Juliet Bailey and Franki Brewer joined forces in forming the Dash & Miller studio, launching their constantly evolving collection of inspirational hand-woven designs and techniques, and laying the foundation for their continued work within the global textiles arena. Very soon strong links and relationships across the industry were forged leading to expanding skills, knowledge, and expertise within many niche areas of textile design, development and manufacture.

In 2010 a ready-to-wear collaboration with Stephen Walters & Sons allowed the studio to offer a selection of jacquard designs by the metre under the Dash & Miller name. Fabrics from the collection have been picked up over the years by designers such as Jonathan Saunders, Bottega Veneta, Victor Li, Ferragamo, Vivienne Westwood, Joseph, Daks, Carolina Herrera, Bruce Oldfield, Malone Souliers, Mulberry, and Jason Wu among others. The studio moved from its rural Somerset location to the vibrant and creative city of Bristol in 2011.

Juliet and Franki as Dash & Miller were awarded the first joint scholarship by the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) in spring 2013. This allowed the pair to embark upon an extended research and networking tour within the UK textiles manufacturing industry, visiting some of the most historic and prestigious facilities for fibre processing, spinning, weaving, finishing, and dyeing and learning about the processes and scope on offer.

Encouraged by their new understanding and connections, this research planted the seed for a new design-focused sampling and small-production facility and in 2015, after a successful bid to the ERDF West of England Growth Fund, Dash & Miller's sister company The Bristol Weaving Mill was born. In 2016, Juliet and Franki were proudly awarded the QEST Fattorini Medal of Excellence for outstanding contribution to their craft and the sector, whilst demonstrating their commitment to training and passing on skills to the next generation.

At this point the growing team at Dash & Miller were also looking towards new technologies to support their own textiles innovations. With a move to their current home in central Bristol came the addition of a TC2 jacquard handloom, expanding their capabilities and scope in developing new ideas and techniques. New areas of work including sports footwear and automotive materials development followed, as well as collaborations with internationally renowned artists and PR firms.

Notably, between 2017 and 2019, Dash & Miller were involved in the creation of the Game of Thrones Tapestry, a 90-metre jacquard woven by hand at the studio which illustrates the complete 8 series of the popular HBO TV show in the style of the Bayeux Tapestry. The piece was developed in close collaboration with highly skilled illustrators from Jelly London, the award winning Publicis London team, and an army of hand-embroiderers at The Ulster Museum in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Core to the Dash & Miller ethos is the concept of sustainable, responsible design. The studio’s networks within UK sourcing and manufacture have allowed the team to unlock localised and traceable channels to textile production, facilitating circular development processes from raw materials through to the finished product. Both cutting-edge technology and traditional low-tech processes play a role in advancing this emerging area of the textile industry, with Dash & Miller working to connect the dots and create more future-proof outcomes.

Throughout the global pandemic, with international travel off-limits, Dash & Miller's focus turned to addressing the challenge of communicating their woven textile designs digitally. The collection was uploaded into an online space and the studio reached out to existing clients and new audiences through a series of trend webinars and showcases. However, the question remained: how to successfully convey the physical qualities of constructed textiles in this new virtual space?

These conversations led them to develop a new partnership with digital textiles specialist Jessica Garvey Birch and the team have since received R&D funding from both the BFTT and Innovate UK to explore this concept further. Collectively they've named this project 'Base b: The Virtual Mill'. The Virtual Mill enables sustainable design and decision making and streamlines manufacturing communication.

One partnership which seeded during the pandemic lockdowns is Dash & Miller’s collaborative work for artist Garry Fabian Miller. This ongoing body of work exploring a woven response to Fabian Miller’s pioneering Cibachrome photographic process has taken the studio and designers on a journey to a whole new level of artistic exploration. Outcomes from this collaboration are currently on exhibition at Bristol’s Arnolfini gallery until 28 May 2023 as part of Garry Fabian Miller’s ADORE.

The future for Dash & Miller is one where craft complements technology, where sustainability drives innovation, where new thinking enhances traditional manufacturing processes, and where pioneering ideas in art and woven process collide.