Five Favourite Things with Sarah Foot of Thread the Word

Some 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.

Five Favourite Things with Freelance Creative Lily Gee

This 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.

Five (...Six!) Favourite Things with Designer Isla Simpson

This 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.

Five Favourite Things with Artist Poppy Rosemary Smith

This 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.

Five Favourite Things with Artist & Designer Jess Wheeler

Jess 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.

Five Favourite Things with Designer Sophie Cull-Candy

Next 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.