This week we chat to Sophie Elliott, PR guru and co-founder of The Sette. The Sette is an online shop for artisan and unique kitchen and tableware, with focus on fun and original, yet classic designs. The Sette offers a curation of both table and cookware, seamlessly bridging the previous gap between the two. Sophie and Cloe’s main mission is to bring people around the kitchen table and create lasting memories with an aesthetic that is laid back and timeless - yet a little fun.
Read MoreThis week we chat to Jemima Herbert, co-founder of LAY London, about some of her favourite things, and how to make hosting even more special. LAY is London’s first tablescape rental company, which delivers colourful party settings straight to your door, set up by Jemima and her sister Alice. They both grew up in the countryside and were always encouraged to be creative whether it be mad Easter tables at home or over-the-top birthday celebrations; more was always more in the Herbert household. With a mum who had an amazing ability to make the little things feel special, how to make decorative dining tables and personal interior touches were instilled in them from an early age, and the interest grew even more later on when they started hosting friends in their own homes.
Read MoreThis week we chat to Serena Guen, founder of SUITCASE magazine. Born in London to an international family, Serena was lucky enough to grow up frequently visiting her grandparents who were scattered around the world. As her father travelled a lot for work and was keen to share the experiences he encountered, he would often revisit destinations and bring his family along. Serena went to New York University for her undergraduate degree and ended up spending two years in Paris and two years in New York. She found the ambition and tempo in New York completely contagious, and as a result there and then decided to start her own business.
Read MoreSome of you may have seen (and maybe even bought pieces from!) the collaboration we did with Thread The Word earlier this year on a collection of embroidered vintage white shirts. Each one was embellished with her whimsical stitching for a little something extra that you can guarantee no one else will have on. Sarah Foot, the hands behind Thread The Word stitching, started out her career in the interiors world and later product development of homeware, gifts and stationery. Having always had a passion for textiles, collecting them from around the world wherever she went, Sarah stacked them away with plans to use them in projects that had to fit in around her full time job.
Read MoreThis week I chat to freelance creative chameleon Lily Gee. Lily was born in London to parents in the music and fashion industry, and is currently living in Highgate, North London, along with her close-knit family. For the past year and half she has been freelance in event planning and production, working for clients such as Bobbi Brown, Dove, Bumble and Spotify. Her first job was running the digital team for an events company during London Fashion Week and since then she has been firmly placed in the creative industry. Her passion is in events and styling, but lockdown changed everything over the course of a few days. Therefore she has now combined her love for styling and her new found hobby; pottery, to create a side hustle project together with her older sister until the events industry is back in action: Gee Studio Store.
Read MoreThis week I chat to designer Isla Simpson, designer and illustrator with an instantly recognisable feminine aesthetic. Her work brings to mind chintzy English country houses of the 1980s, pie-crust collars and velvet bows, strawberries and cream, Laura Ashley dresses and William Morris prints - all served with a dash of whimsy and nostalgia. After graduating in textile design from Central Saint Martins in 2002, Isla designed handbags and leather goods for fifteen years for clients including Aspinals of London, Anya Hindmarch and Whistles. In 2017, she launched her own studio and now designs her line of stationery, home accessories and original artwork, in addition to working on bespoke illustration commissions. I have followed Isla for many years now, and she has an aesthetic I truly admire. I cannot get enough of her brilliant illustrations and designs, a mix of hand-painted flowers and plants, shells, corals and bows, all delicately beautiful.
Read MoreThis week I chat to Poppy Rosemary Smith about vintage Laura Ashley dresses, the importance of a good sketchbook and handmade purses featuring her own designs. Poppy is an artist who enjoys working across many mediums but specialising in architectural illustration. She has recently been working on hand drawings for interior and exterior design proposals and private commissions for country houses. Her eye for detail, love of architecture and free style of working make these drawings a timeless reference and works of art in their own right.
Read MoreJess is a designer and artist working across a variety of disciplines from set to homeware design. Her cross disciplinary approach has a unified, nostalgic, nature driven narrative. Her varied mediums of working aim to remind the viewer the beauty and fragility of our natural world, it is therefore important to Jess that her pieces transcend seasonality and have a conscience. All of her pieces are hand made by her or by small-scale makers in the UK, using honest sustainable materials.
Read MoreNext up is Sophie Cull-Candy, a London-born designer who founded her namesake womenswear brand in 2014. The romantically floral world of Sophie Cull-Candy displays a rich mix of colour, textiles and nostalgia. The London-born designer takes much of her inspiration from nature, her city upbringing and her family life in Scotland and the South Downs. Every collection is playful, luxurious and beautifully crafted; each piece is individually handmade in London her items have gathered international press, featuring in the likes of Vogue, Love, Hunger, Elle and Harpers Bazaar.
Read MoreNext up is Issy Carr, a freelance creative who divides her time between Edinburgh and London. In September, she will go into the final year of her English Literature and History of Art Masters at Edinburgh University, whilst continuing to freelance on the side. Her creative disciplines include journalism, contributing to magazines such as Wonderland, Rollacoaster, Harper’s Bazaar and Town & Country, as well as editorial production and fiction writing. Her goal after leaving University, and a few years down the line, is to open her own creative agency in London. But for now, she is off to Tuscany for the summer, to help run the artist residency programme at Villa Lena.
Read MoreFirst out is Anne-Estelle Lenoble, PR Manager at Lalique, historic French crystal-maker, founded by renowned glassmaker and jeweller René Lalique, in 1888. Having studied Fine and Decorative Art and Design at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London, as well as Art Law at Université Panthéon-Assas, she has lived in all corners of the world including Houston Texas, Nigeria, Switzerland, Shanghai, and London before settling in Paris. Anne-Estelle lives in the 9th arrondissement with her boyfriend, Clément, and their pet bunny Jacques-Henri.
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