Five Favourite Things with Serena Guen, Founder of SUITCASE Magazine

This 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.

Five Favourite ThingsNikie LundquistDecember 12, 2020Serena Guen, Suitcase, Travel, Magazine, Geraldine London, Headband, Tartan

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.

Diana's Best Style Moments

Life MusingsNikie LundquistNovember 16, 2020Lady Diana, Princess Diana, The Crown, 80s Style, BlazersComment

Postcard from Stockholm

Sunday was spent outside in the Stockholm autumn sunshine, walking in the royal park that is the island of Djurgården. We stopped for a coffee and cardamom bun (the most important Swedish tradition ‘fika’) in an apple orchard at Rosendals Trädgård, a cafe and bakery which also has a plant shop.

Life Musings, Corners of the WorldNikie LundquistOctober 13, 2020Djurgården, Stockholm, Travel, City, Weekend, Fika, Rosendal, Garden

Five Photos I Saved on Instagram Recently

This week I am inspired by: Oda Eide’s swan on film, David Hockney at his studio in 1969, collar perfection at Horror Vacui, the amazing whippet collage by The Full Montage and Margaux Hemingway’s wedding dress. ❤️

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 Photos I Saved on Instagram Recently

This week I am inspired by: Oda Eide’s swan on film, David Hockney at his studio in 1969, collar perfection at Horror Vacui, the amazing whippet collage by The Full Montage and Margaux Hemingway’s wedding dress. ❤️

Five Photos I Saved on Instagram Recently

This week I am inspired by: Millie Amber’s glorious punch needle cushion cover, Laura Sueiro’s beautiful blouse/necklace combination, the Robby Dress by Molly Goddard, photographer Jens Ingvarsson for Moda Operandi and the holiday vibes from Ellen Claesson in Croatia. ❤️

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.

The Wedding of Stylist Alex Carl - A Great Source of Inspiration

I have kept these photos in my inspiration folder for a while, and I love going back to them every once in a while to admire everything about this wedding. Danish stylist Alex Carl (she has worked for Artket, Rejino Ryo and Self-Portrait to name a few) married Jacob John Harmer in Copenhagen in the late summer of 2018, and it was captured beautifully by British Vogue through the lens of Polina Vinogradova.

Snapshots from a Swedish Island

I have spent the last week on the Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. Often referred to as ‘Sweden’s Ibiza’ it has a unique landscape that you cannot find anywhere else in the country. Many of coastlines on the island are made up of shales and limestone rock formations called rauks. The main town on the island is called Visby, an old Hanse trading port with a still mostly intact medieval city wall, cobbled streets and colourful houses. Its a magical place like no other ✨

Life Musings, Corners of the WorldNikie LundquistJuly 28, 2020Gotland, Sweden, Summer, Exploring, Beach, Landscape, Nature, Visby, Travel, InspirationComment

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.

New In - Antique Folklore Dresses ❤️

They are finally all here, the antique and vintage folklore dresses with hand embroidery sourced from Ukraine. All so unique and beautiful, handpicked for their different materials and characteristics. From soft cotton and thin linen to a thicker hemp, they are all works of art and perfect to wear in the summer, or layered over a jumper with jeans in the winter.

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 Photos I Saved on Instagram

This week I am inspired by: The abstract visual world of Pascalle Kouwenhoven; the interiors of Apollo Bar in Copenhagen posted by stylist Hannah Mw; how Fanny Ekstand styled her headscarf; the new postcards by Subrina Heyink Vintage and the jacket and the colours of this photo of Caroline Bille Brahe ❤️

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.

Five People On Instagram Who Inspired Me Last Week

Instagram is an amazing tool for finding inspiration in other peoples creative work, to create mood boards and even reach out to people. As most of us have been confined to our own homes for over three months now, I try to widen my feed as much as I can to bring in different creative elements and viewpoints. These are five peoples feeds and work that have inspired me recently!

Five Favourite Things with Freelance Journalist Issy Carr

Next 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.

For the Love of Vyshyvanka

Vyshyvanka is the name for embroidered shirts and dresses in Ukrainian and Belarusian national costumes, and is perhaps the most loved item in the Ukrainian wardrobe. Ukrainian vyshyvanka is distinguished by the vivid and unique embroidery, and although present all across the country, the embroidery varies depending on the region of origin, as each local style has their own technique with particular patterns and colours.

Fashion InspirationNikie LundquistMay 19, 2020Vyshyvanka, Embroidery, Dress, Traditional, Shirt, Linen, Folk, Art, Handicraft, Tradition

Five Favourite Things with Anne-Estelle Lenoble, PR Manager at Lalique

First 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.