Ladies, Wine & Design







Ladies*, Wine** & Design is a global non-profit initiative with chapters in over 285 cities worldwide. Welcome to the Southampton chapter!

LW&D was founded in 2015 by Jessica Walsh after this happened. Only .1% of creative agencies are founded by women & non-binary people, and the numbers are even smaller for women/non-binary BIPOC. Our mission is to see more diversity in the creative industry, especially within leadership roles. LW&D takes an interdisciplinary approach to this work. We offer free mentorship circles, portfolio reviews, talks & creative meetups for underrepresented creatives.

Our space is inclusive of ALL creative professionals, students & enthusiasts. If you feel you could benefit from a space to share ideas & collaborate, you are welcome! Alcohol is entirely optional; you can drink tea, coffee, or whatever you like!

18th November, 2022 (7-9pm) Weird is The Best

A fantastic evening of wacky drawings with the wonderful Kama Mielczarek from ( Weird is the Best), hosted at the stunning Design Chapel. We explored techniques to overcome creative blocks & daunting white pages. See what we got up to here.

27th October, 2022 (7-9pm) Chapel Chats #3

We're exciting to bring you our 3rd Chapel Chats — a relaxed & intimate evening of open conversation for creative students, professionals & enthusiasts, hosted at the stunning Design Chapel. We’d love to see you there! Get your free tickets here.

25th October, 2022 (5-5:30pm) Connecting Creatives

Tune in for a reflective talk from our very own Jazzy Olive, where we’ll be using a series of questions to encourage open conversation, fuel thinking and forge creative connections. A big thanks to the Freelancer Club for inviting us along. Join the talk here.

29th September, 2022 (7-9pm) Chapel Chats #2

A lovely evening of open discussion with local creatives at our latest Chapel Chats, in collaboration with the unique & inspiring community working and events space, Design Chapel. Check out the event pics here.

17th August, 2022 (7-9pm) Squiggles with Siscribbles

Co-hosted with the wonderful Silvia Scifo, Squiggles with Siscribbles was a free & interactive illustration workshop hosted at the stunning Design Chapel. We embraced 'mistakes' in order to create our unique continuous line faces. Check out the photos here.

15th June, 2022 (7-9pm) Chapel Chats #1

A relaxed and intimate evening of open conversation for creative students, professionals & enthusiasts. Big up the Design Chapel for hosting us!! Wanna see the action? Look here.

4th December, 2021 (10am-5pm) GHT Makers Market

What a joy it was to sponsor the very talented Lydia Marshall at GHT’s festive Christmas market. Lydia’s bag designs are eco-conscious, low-waste, practical and minimalistic! Visit Kettle&Co. to get yours!

16th November, 2021 (6:30-9pm) Woodland Watercolours

A lovely evening spent with brush to paper, exploring strokes and techniques with our lovely guest host Amy Harwood. Check out the antics here.

14th October, 2021 (7-9pm) Tower Talks

A splendid evening, spent with faces old & new, discussing what it means to be a creative of today in an ever-changing world. A huge thanks to GHT for having us, and to all the lovely ladies that joined. Check out the photos here.

22nd May, 2021 (3-6pm) Design Drop-In #3

Our 3rd & final Design Drop-In was a blast! We explored type craft, human-centred apps, and more! Check it out for yourself here.

24th April, 2021 (3-6pm) Design Drop-In #2

We had a lovely time connecting with creatives near & far —discussing project ideas, getting creative feedback & having a laugh! See more of the action here.

27th March, 2021 (3-6pm) Design Drop-In #1

Throughout lockdown, we hosted a series of online Design Drop-Ins. This was the first of 3. It was great to catch-up with our local community of creatives and meet some new faces too. Find out more here.

21st January, 2021 (2:30-4:30pm) CNS Talk

We discussed our LW&D journey so far, how we can use #CollaborationOverCompetition to fuel change and presented our research into how Solent can better support its creative communities as we emerge from lockdown. A huge thanks to CNS for having us, and to the guests for their thoughts & ideas. Find out more here.

30th September, 2020 (5:30-7:30pm) Tiny Talks

Introducing Tiny Talks — our first ever mini-event series, where we talk all things business, life and creativity with the shared goal to listen and support one another. This event was cancelled due to Covid, but we aim to have these sessions back up & running in 2022. Find out more here.

26th February, 2020 (7-9pm) Do you even Design
Manifest-tho?

We partnered with Ross Chapman, Head of Design Sprints at Etch UK to bring an action-packed workshop where we explored how Southampton can better support its creatives. See what we got up to here & here.

18th December, 2019 (4-9pm) Sleigh All Day
Makers Market

A fab turn-out at Southampton's newest co-working space, Network Eagle Labs with our largest guest list to date. Check out all the antics here.

29th October, 2019 (6-9pm) See Ya Laser

What a blast our latest 'See Ya Laser' laser cut a wine box workshop was at the Makers Space! We were so impressed with the designs you lovely ladies created! Check them out here.

27th August, 2019 (6-9pm) Brush Lettering
Workshop

Thank you to those who joined us for a delightful evening of Brush Lettering with the fabulous Marte Vik Eriksen from epletyv. See what we got up to here.

16th May, 2019 (7pm+) Schmooze with Booze

Thank you to all the lovely ladies that joined us to chat all things female and creative at our latest Schmooze with Booze meet & greet event at the stunning Olive. Check out the beautiful faces here.

2nd April, 2019 (7-9pm) Bring & Share
Zine Workshop

Thank you to all the lovely ladies that joined us for wine, pizza and creativity as we explored #CollaborationOverCompetition in our first-ever Bring & Share workshop at Etch UK. Take a peak at the action here.

“Southampton — typically known for its waters and industrial history — is starting to take shape as a creative city. It really feels like we are on the cusp of something exciting and it’s a privilege to be at the forefront of connecting and empowering the incredible creative community who live, work and play here.” — Ruth Irvine (Former Co-Host)

We rely solely on volunteers, venue sponsors & community donations to keep our events (mostly) free o'charge & accessible to all. Click here to donate, or get in touch to help out.

A huge thanks to our sponsors: Barclays, Creative Network South, Design Chapel, Etch, Fenner, Fedrigoni, GHT, Hinge, and You Agency for supporting us creative folk and keeping our chapter alive! If you or your company would like to support our creative community, email us to find out about sponsorship opportunities.

Check-out these bad-ass creatives: