Tracey Whittington is Senior Brand Manager for Coats Kits & Canvases. She takes care of the Anchor, maia, Royal Paris and Idena kit ranges.
She started out with a Knitted and Woven Textile Degree from Duncan of Jordonstone College of Art in Dundee. After graduating she worked in Threads craft shop in Darlington (coincidentally, now home to Coats Crafts UK). While she was working there she often came into contact with Coats in Glasgow while placing orders for their Anchor stranded cotton and wool.
Tracey joined Coats in 1991, when they moved from Glasgow to Darlington. Her contacts and experience got her a job as Marketing Assistant, but she soon worked her way up the ranks. She’s become an expert in many departments, having spent time with Handknitting, Crochet, Embroidery Thread, Publications, Fabrics and Accessories.
Outside of work Tracey has been a keen crafter since she was a child. She has tried most crafts. Although she has recently delegated card making to her children, Tracey admits to “a recent spate of sock monkey making with my nine year old twins”.
One of Tracey’s greatest achievements includes her children’s knitwear design being a finalist in a Patons knitwear competition in the 1980s. The competition was judged by Bruce Oldfield and fashion journalist, Jane Lomas.
At Coats, she is proudest of her work with designer Julie Gill, developing the Coats Millennium Sampler, which marked the New Millennium, which featured designs to stitch with Anchor embroidery threads, which were inspired by the previous thousand years of stitching.
Tracey was also responsible for devising and launching maia. This is Coats’ specialist range of kits aimed at the stitcher who is looking for something a bit different full of artistic detail.
Tracey is constantly enthused by the new product launches. “For me every launch is exciting, seeing which designs come to fruition and become kits or canvases.” Keep an eye on our site for all the latest kit launches. Tracey will always have had a hand in bringing them to life.