HE'S a 57-year-old architecture professor who makes scarves in his garage during his spare time – not the classic CV for a designer selling his or her wares at a top London department store.
But Richard Weston's creations can now be found alongside those of Alexander McQueen and Manolo Blahnik on the shelves of the 136-year-old Liberty store after appearing on a television talent show to find the UK's next top designer.
Professor Weston, an expert in modern Nordic architecture who has taught at Cardiff University since 1999, makes the scarves in a studio at his home in the Vale of Glamorgan village of Dinas Powys.
Based on the patterns found in naturally-occurring crystals and fossils, his designs now sell for up to ￡210, with Liberty expecting his range of scarves to turn over ￡170,000 over the course of this year.
"It's lucky I'm used to not thinking in the box," said Prof Weston. "Being involved in architecture, it's something you get used to."
The designs for the scarves are based on the high-resolution scans of minerals, fossils and stones, making the images unique.
"You can't beat nature at doing certain kinds of things. If you want subtlety of colour and intricacy of pattern and variation, nature is it," he said.
He picked up his first mineral in 2003 when a chunk of ammonite in the window of a crystal shop in a Cardiff arcade caught his eye.
He used a scanner to transfer the swirling pattern to his computer, and was stunned by the result.
He said: "I started off buying cheap pebbles for ￡5 or ￡6, and each time they became more and more interesting. I'd pick up minerals and stones every time I went on holiday, or to a conference. I've got about 40 boxes at the moment."
After his initial fascination with creating electronic images of microscopic patterns in various crystals, it was two years before Prof Weston discovered that new technology would allow him to print the images onto fabric.
In 2005 he sponsored students at Newport Art College to use silk emblazoned with his designs in their end-of-year fashion show.
Then, in early 2010, his interest was pricked by an interview with Liberty's managing director Ed Burstell on Radio 4's Today programme.
The newly-appointed Mr Burstell wanted to find the next big thing in retail by holding an open day at the store.
Prof Weston added: "It was a kind of X Factor for design, so I signed up.
"I had a terrible cold and missed the first audition but I applied for the next round, and it was lucky I did because it was then discovered that there was going to be a programme filmed at that round."
The programme would end up as the BBC's Britain's Next Big Thing, which airs in April, hosted by Dragons' Den entrepreneur Theo Paphitis.
But, despite Prof Weston catching the eye of Liberty's buyers, he had a lot of work before the end product was suitable for sale on the prestigious shelves of its store in Great Marlborough Street, just off London's Oxford Street.
"At first I was making long narrow scarves, because people said that square ones would not sell," he said.
"But Ed Burstell said immediately that he wanted the biggest squares possible.
"But it was so difficult to get square silk prints with a design, and to get them hand-rolled was impossible. I could get it done in China, but they wanted large quantities."
Prof Weston ended up travelling to Lake Como in Italy to source the perfect silks on which to print his scans of minerals, a trip that will be shown on Britain's Next Big Thing when it is aired from April 12.
"They are at the forefront of digital printing, and they offer an all-in service, something which, sadly, is not available in the UK."
But, despite his success, the academic is still not convinced he is ready to commit to fashion for good.
"I did say to someone the other day, ‘I think this is the rest of my life beginning'," he said.
"In terms of my professional career, I've spent nearly 30 years in academia. And, as an architect, I still want to build, I still want to design. But now I've got this whole other thing starting in scarves – and even in fashion, heaven help me."
