Brought up in the rolling hills of the Kent countryside, Jessica has always been a creative. Trained in Costume construction at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Jessica started her career in theatre. Quickly realising she had a passion for embroidery she joined The Royal Warrant Holding company, Hand & Lock London in 2011. Jessica spent 12 years at Hand & Lock specialising in design and production finishing her time there as Managing Director and gaining a 360 view on the textile industry. During her time there she worked with some of the biggest names in fashion such as Louis Vuitton, Dior and Vivienne Westwood, as well as working on commissions for the Royal family, Apple, Yinka Illori, Jessica Mccormack and Bentley. She is dedicated to producing exceptional embroidery which pushes the boundaries of innovation.
With over a decade of experience in the embroidery and textiles world Jessica is able to take on any embroidery project with expert skills and professional execution.
She was instrumental in acquiring the Royal Warrant for services to the Royal Palaces and remained the main point of contact for the Warrant during her time at Hand & Lock. Jessica was also responsible for the major development of Hand & Lock’s online embroidery products such as the 1767 embroidery case, and the ‘by Hand & Lock’ range.
Jessica is passionate about embroidery and what it has to offer to the next generation. She is committed to ensuring this ancient craft is passed onto the next generation and has dedicated major time to projects like the Hand & Lock Prize for embroidery which aims to support emerging textile artists, she was also responsible for the relaunch of the Hand & Lock School for embroidery and its development into The Hand & Lock School for Creative arts which offers now offers a huge range of creative classes designed to give access to unique crafts to everyone. On top of her embroidery experience she has taught embroidery workshops worldwide delivering embroidery classes in New York, London, Sydney, and to businesses such as The Victoria and Albert Museum, English national Opera and Apple.
In 2020 Jessica founded interior design business House of Norica with her sister Eleanor Pile. With over 2 decades of experience in architecture and textiles, House of Norica creates beautiful spaces which focus on clever interior design with embroidered textiles. Due to a high demand of embroidered textiles Jess & Ellie launched Norica Studios in 2024 which focused on taking on any type of bespoke embroidery commissions.
Today Jessica splits her time between running her 2 businesses as well as embroidery consultation, teaching and lecturing. You can read more about Jessica's work in her portfolio.
An industry expert, Pile has expert knowledge in the finest embroidery techniques, their application to fashion garments and the wider construction and manufacturing processes. Jessica published her first book on fashion embroidery In early 2018 with Batsford books which has since sold 10,000 worldwide.
To buy Jessica’s Book you can purchase it here