Artist Fritha Lewin chats to DIVA about the power of queer illustration
BY FRITHA LEWIN, IMAGE PROVIDED
Artist Fritha Lewin brings queer joy and femme power to the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 opening titles sequence.
Scottish illustrator Fritha Lewin was selected as one of 16 international female artists commissioned to create bespoke artwork for the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 opening titles that have been displayed on broadcast during the record-breaking tournament that ended on 27 September. Her contribution, titled The Scottish Rugby Union in Queer Tartan Trojan Unicorn Glitter, reimagines tartan through a queer lens – playful, glamorous, and unapologetically femme.
Lewin’s practice is rooted in identity, queerness, and transformation. “Growing up in a commune I’ve since been told was a cult, I never felt I belonged — not in my family, in Edinburgh in the ‘90s and certainly not in the religion I was raised in, where being a lesbian was unacceptable. Making art has always been my way of carving out space to exist,” she explains.
Her work often references cut glass. “To me, it represents the pressure to conform. When I press it into clay, it leaves behind jagged, precise marks — a record of both beauty and pressure.” That same metaphor of fragility and resilience infuses her Queer Tartan project.
For Womens’ Rugby World Cup 2025, Lewin turned to Scotland’s most iconic symbol: tartan. By reworking the Scottish Rugby Union’s thistle logo into cut glass, jewel-like digital tartan bead designs, she created a shimmering fabric of identity. “Each bead is different, no two are the same — just like people. I wanted to send a message: Scotland is a place that’s so queer-friendly we reinvented tartan for the queers.”
Lewin studied Tourism at Napier University in Edinburgh, giving her a sharp awareness of tartan’s place in Scotland’s global identity. Tartan is used for branding globally — from Fortnum and Mason to Hello Kitty. She has since established www.queertartanregister.com, a platform where individuals and organisations can commission their own bespoke queer tartan designs.
She sees her work as both camp and political. “It’s a very British response to recent changes in legislation affecting LGBTQIA+ people — something a bit Alexander McQueen: elegant, eccentric, but also feminine and camp. I call the whole design system my Trojan unicorn glitter. It can be smuggled into boardrooms or luxury hotels, but it also belongs on a drag queen’s gown or even a silk tie worn by Prince Harry to show allyship.” As Lady Gaga says “being gay is like glitter. It never goes away.” Try hoovering it out of a carpet after a kids birthday party!
Her inspirations range from Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s to teen cinema. “Capote’s book was really about being gay in New York when it was illegal — finding a safe space in a luxury jewellery store. I wanted to create something that could make Scotland feel like Tiffany’s for the queer community. And I love that scene in Mean Girls where the prom queen crown is broken apart and shared. Women’s sport feels more collective and less hierarchical than men’s, and I wanted this piece to reflect that spirit.”
Although recovering from surgery during the design process, Lewin has a long connection to sport — she created illustrations for the London 2012 Olympics and has always gravitated towards outdoor pursuits like snowboarding and horse riding.
“Queer Tartan is about joy, visibility, and femme collective power. If it helps even one queer kid feel more at home in the world — or on a rugby pitch — then it’s done its job.”
Fritha’s 3D bead graphics can be printed at about one meter high. She has created a 3D bead alphabet that can be printed at seven meters high. She is now seeking commissions for her work as exterior public art for the built environment and sports stadiums. Alongside these large scale ambitions she also creates laser cut jewellery, pieces that act as playful and accessible forms of queer flagging for the femme community.
For more about Fritha Lewin’s work, visit www.frithalewin.com.
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