Laura Ashley Carno, Adran Gynllunio

Disgrifiad

Originally started by John Astley, the Lay Planning department at this time, headed by Linda Evans was further developed to make miniature layouts of dress and other patterns via computer in order to use the least amount of fabric possible. Beating in mind that some of the fabric to be cut could be up to 300 ply, every centimetre counted. These plans were then automatically fed to the plotter in the room next door which then drew out the plans full size onto paper with a heat sensitive backing. Once complete, the roll of paper was taken off the plotter and taken to the cutting room, the paper was rolled out onto the top ply of the waiting fabric and ironed to make it stick. This is when the cutting would begin. The information for all the plans was stored on "elephant disks" five of which can be seen in their polythene protective covers on top of the unit to the left of the small computer screen on the painted white table, much different from the size of storage media today. To ensure all the equipment worked efficiently, the room was air-conditioned and the carpet was anti-static. The wallpaper is S45 Nutmeg in burgundy and the table in the foreground was purpose-built by in-house carpenters Will John Davies and Gwyn Lewis aka Wimpy.