Clare Hunter

Early life and education

Hunter was born in 1950 in Glasgow. Hunter went on to study directing at the Bristol Old Vic, where she learnt to make theatrical costumes. As part of the city's year as European Capital of Culture, she worked with the community and with another textile artist, Malcolm Lochhead, on twelve banners representing Glaswegian life, Keeping Glasgow In Stitches.

Her second book, Embroidering her Truth: Mary Queen of Scots and the Language of Power (2023), is about the embroidery of and other textiles related to Mary, Queen of Scots. Her third book is Making Matters: In Search of Creative Wonders (2025).

Reception

Threads of Life was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week in 2019. A review in the journal Textile: Cloth and Culture said that "The book's vivid descriptions of sewing, textiles, and the accompanying processes are embedded with the kind of rich detail only a stitcher could know ... a novel and much-needed addition to the field of history, anthropology, and textiles", though the reviewer was disappointed that the book has no illustrations. The Fashion Studies Journal said that "A certain Scottishness permeates the entire book ... The soaring and somewhat indulgent quality of Hunter’s language makes for good (but still smart!) pleasure reading".

The Scotsman said of Embroidering her Truth that "Hunter's retelling illuminates [Mary's life] in unexpected ways".

The fashion designer Maria Grazia Chiuri was influenced by Hunter's Threads of Life to highlight the work of Indian garment workers, particularly embroiderers, in Dior's collection for the 2021 Paris Fashion Week, and by Embroidering her Truth in the 2024 show.

Personal life

Hunter lives in Stirlingshire.

Books

Threads of Life: a History of the World through the Eye of a Needle (2019, Sceptre at Hodder & Stoughton) Embroidering her Truth: Mary Queen of Scots and the Language of Power (2023, Sceptre at Hodder & Stoughton) Making Matters: In Search of Creative Wonders (2025, Sceptre at Hodder & Stoughton)