Sisters Guild: collection story

Showing posts with label collection story. Show all posts

Tuesday, 13 December 2011

The Story Behind the Collections: Waddler

Discovering Waddler was like opening a magical storybook. When Waddler came onto the 'scene' we knew we had found something so special and so desirable! It made us remember the reason why we started Sisters Guild - to bring together collections from talented and imaginative designers, makers and mamas, those with an inspiring vision.

Carla & I were in awe of Marina when we met her with her collection of alpaca loveliness, along with her family - her newborn son contentedly wrapped in an alpaca baby blanket. We wanted to throw our arms around it all. And so we did!

Waddler is an important part of the Sisters Guild Boutique and we are full of excitement each time we send a piece of Waddler around the world. Our own children are now being enrobed with alpaca jumpers as the winter sets in. In March the new addition to the family is set to be wearing that amazing wolf & Bear jumper!

Waddler weaves (or knits!) a story of a creative family who adventured to South America, discovered freedom for their children and dreamt up a beautiful alpaca clothing collection. The inspiring couple behind the collection is Marina Scrymgeour and Philip Thompson who bring us something so incredible and unique - ethically made clothing in alpaca wool in playful designs that reflect the fun and adventure of childhood.

Waddler is here to remind us of how children love to run free in nature, become bears or wolves, any animal they choose, romp and play and let their imaginations soar. The clothing is innocent, nonrestrictive and designed to be played in, to climb trees and roll on the grass. The alpaca wool is very soft - it is one of nature's finest fabrics and it will last many winters for many generations.

Waddler for us expresses the wonder and the wide-eyed possibilities of being a child and embracing the world. Waddler is a celebration of a joyous time.

We are aware that the Waddler family are back in Bolivia developing their future collections, doing what must be an awesome photoshoot and enjoying new discoveries as a family. You must follow their blog here

We are so happy to share such a stand-out and beautiful collection in our online boutique.

Step into the storybook and discover Waddler here

This is part of our series of blogs where we share the story behind our collections; because the collections and their creators mean so much to us here at Sisters Guild we want to pass the story on.

We bring a new blog each day; other series of blogs include our 'Monday Makery' with ideas and 'how to's' to make and bake with all the family, Wednesday we woo you with our favourite pieces from the boutique and its new arrivals, Thursday is all about the art of living; discovering places and sharing new treasures and Friday we bring you the 'A-Z of Sisters Guild' a collection of pictures that convey the life behind the boutique

You can Follow us on Twitter here ,like us on Facebook here and visit our rather marvellous boutique here
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Tuesday, 8 November 2011

The Story Behind our Collections: Kidsonroof

Having a nearly 4 year old son who has inherited his Dad's engineering and architectural mind, I am always looking out for creative toys that have an element of construction. I was led to kidsonroof a while back and when we wanted to expand the imagine & play section of the boutique we knew the kidsonroof collection would fit pefectly with Sisters Guild.

Kidsonroof = creativity + imagination + sustainable approach = great to play with -/- visual pollution for the grown ups!

Behind kidsonroof is a creative family who live a very inspiring life in Holland. Romy Boesveldt and Ilya Yashkin established kidsonroof in 2005. With kids comes a new perspective and as a family they wanted to 're-connect modern life with nature and discover basic values.' Together with their 3 kids and their little friends they have a 'testlab' where they conjour up new ideas. Further design visions are nurtured from simple time spent in the Southern French Mountains in a 'little shed' with no electric or running water. You can see how such creativity can flourish.

Ilya has trained as an architectural designer. He brings the ingenious 3-dimensional design to kidsonroof. Romy is all about conceptual development and styling. Together they are the imaginative heart of kidsonroof.

Kidsonroof really is all about imagination. The Totem collection consists of sets of recycled cardboard pieces decorated with graphics and pattern that slot together to become planes, trees, buildings, birds, animals, ships, figurines and so much more. With kidsonroof the possibilities are fantastical and far-reaching. For a child's mind that is just the thing, there is no limit to the way something can be played with.

The Totem collection can be fully appreciated by adults too - for play and decoration. We know many a home that has the Totem Tree and the animals from the Totem Books bringing wonder to shelves, tables, desks, hallways, mantlepieces and windowsills.

Another collection within kidsonroof is 'Casa.' Here the scale gets a bit bigger, yet it is the simplicity that can be enjoyed. There are recycled cardboard houses to decorate and play with inside and out. And a Trojan Horse..

The Trojan Horse is made of recycled cardboard and children can sit on it or play with it, along with its' baby horse. Extra magic comes from the little tinkling sound from within the horse.
This beautiful toy and pure object was designed by Alex Hellum. By the shape and character of the horse you can spy his Scandinavian origins. Alex has worked for over 20 years in the UK as a teacher and for Heal's and Ercol amongst others, but he is originally from Norway.

Altogether kidsonroof is an oustanding creative achievement that brings something so refreshing to children's play and to our homes. Kidsonroof is a noteworthy classic for the new creative generation of parents and children who desire and appreciate design that is visually stimulating, tactile, imaginative and ecological too.

I know my home is slowly being filled with the Totem and Casa pieces and they don't feel like toys - they are pure joy and celebration of shape, colour and form!

Discover the kidsonroof collection here

Tuesday, 30 August 2011

The Story Behind our Collections: Japanese Paper Balloons from Petra Boase

When we wanted to bring something sweet and fun and ultimately decorative into the Sisters Guild Boutique, we turned to Petra Boase. From Petra we were able to source the Japanese Paper Balloons that have been charming us for a few years now.

Petra Boase is well known for her beautiful greetings cards and gifts (some of which we shall be adding to the boutique for Christmas, so do look out!). Petra established her design range in the year 2000 with collage style hand-made greetings cards inspired by her knowledge and passion for textiles - having graduated from Manchester with a Textiles degree. Petra has since expanded her collection, seen it spread across the globe, collaborated on many books , at the same time as raising a family of 3 children in Norfolk. She's certainly an inspiring designer, business-woman and mama! AND she has a very stylish home too!

Petra Boase must've been as charmed as us when she first discovered the Japanese Paper Balloons and decided to make them a part of the Petra Boase collection - we are glad she did as they are not that easy to get hold of. Apparently production in Japan is quite limited now even though thay are a very common plaything for Japanese children.

So, where did they originate? I can find 2 stories:

One source says they were developed in the 1890's: Kamifusen emerged as an alternative to the rubber balloon. They were created by the wives of fishermen during the winter season with handmade paper, with the toy then catching the attention of Japanese manufacturers in the early 1920's. They are traditionally used in the Kamifusen game, where you blow air in the paper balloon and keep the multicolored Kamifusen afloat by hitting them with your hand. A simple game that is still played today.

Another source traces them back further to the beginning of the Yedo period (1603 - 1867), when kami-fusen were made by masterless samurai as their side job.

As well as playthings they are beautiful as interior decoration, and not limited to any room, they can be everywhere! You can choose to have them up permanently or just for parties - speaking of which, they make a great party bag goodie.

They come in many different animal designs. Made from bright, crisp environmental paper, each balloon comes flat and you simply blow in the hole to make the balloon expand. The balloons can be flattened and blown up over and over again. To hang the best tip is to thread a piece of cotton through the top and hang with a pin or white-tack. You can make a lovely arrangement of your favourite characters:

Discover the Japanese Paper Balloons here, from £2.25

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Tuesday, 5 July 2011

The Story Behind our Collections: Clothkits

The story behind the Clothkits collections is probably the oldest one and the one closest to our hearts. With 40 years of heritage Clothkits is a beloved British Brand that was established in 1968 by the textile designer Anne Kennedy, with bright colours, bold patterns and a DIY ethos that was synonomous with the Seventies style. Clothkits disappeared for a while and was revived by Kay Mawer in 2008 for the new generation of parents, much to our celebration.

Clothkits is central to the Sisters Guild vision as Clothkits is part of the reason why we grew up with a love of clothes and crafts - thanks to our mama. We were very proud to be the first online shop selling the Clothkits kits- from Dungarees to Eskimo Dolls!

Clothkits was such a memorable part of our childhood. Clothkits just off Union St in Bath was the place to shop for cool creative mums in the Seventies and Eighties, and we have to admit now that our mum was pretty cool in her day (even though there was a phase when we refused to stand next to her at the school bus-stop due to her bright pink lace up boots - oh, how I wish she still had them!). I loved going to the Clothkits shop, with all the natural wood shelving full of fabrics , patterns and prints - a visual treat for my childs' eyes. There were sewing kits for corduroy dresses, dungarees and even matching ones for our Sasha Dolls, plus grown-up clothes, tea-towels, bags and accessories too.

Sisters in Clothkits

The sewing kits contain all the bits you need to complete the item: buttons, zips and thread, along with the fabric with cutting lines already on there - so no pattern is necessary. The Clothkits clothes our mama created during late night sewing sessions on the old Singer machine were just beautiful, the most memorable being the corduroy dresses, one red, one purple, with hand printed nature patterns and flower buttons. All 3 of us sisters wore them in turn, along with the readymade stripey jersey and knitwear which our brother wore too. A few dresses remain, and Carla's girls are next in line to wear them.

Kay Mawers' own story is one of inspiration - an art graduate and mother who wanted to find unique fabric designs for her own daughters. Add to that mix a Sussex childhood, a creative mother, a sewing machine at 10 years old, a passion for vintage fabrics and adventure in mind, it was clearly Kay's destiny to be the new female force behing Clothkits.

The Clothkits brand had been bought by Freemans, made dormant in 1991 and was left sitting on the shelf. With the combined talents of a Fine Art degree, commercial knowledge, determination and instinct Kay sought to buy the brand. Negotiations with the company took 18 months, but in October 2007 Clothkits was hers. What I didn't realise until now was that there was no design archive remaining for Kay to draw on - it was her dedicated search across the country and on ebay, along with Clothkits fans, that enabled her to re-create the Clothkits archive and develop it into the Clothkits brand for the 21st Century. We sincerely applaud her.

One of our contemporaries, Clover Stroud, author of Cool Camping for Kids and journalist for a number of publicatons, must've been wearing Clothkits at the same time as us sisters. Clover relates her memories in the Telegraph: "I can't remember many of the clothes I wore before I was six, but I have a vivid memory of a certain skirt whose patterns I can still trace in my mind....It was 1979, and I was not yet five....I hadn't thought about that skirt for a while. But recently a girlfriend mentioned the name Clothkits, and it was as if a door had been opened on a moment in the past that resonates with vivid significance for a certain sort of person. That person is one almost certainly brought up by forward-thinking, slightly hippie-ish parents who were channelling an organic, home-made, recycled lifestyle long before any of those words entered our popular vocabulary."
(source: Telegraph)

Since establishing Clothkits Kay says: 'When we exhibit at trade fairs, there's a facial expression I see from a certain sort of woman when she comes across our stall. Her mouth opens and her hand goes up over her mouth with genuine surprise and pleasure. I feel privileged to be working with a brand that generates such warmth, and which has inspired so many good memories for so many women.'
(source: Telepgraph)

Kay has desrcibed the design process as 'largely collaborative' involving artists and designers such as Rob Ryan, Mini Moderns, Jane Foster and People will always need plates. The result is a good mix of 70s nostalgia and contemporary, seen in the retro dungarees and pinny dresses and classics of our time the bags and cushions:

What we can relate to with Clothkits is that its' ethos is one of cottage industry, the same ethos from which Sisters Guild has sprung. Clothkits coincided with motherhood and started at the kitchen table, just as Sisters Guild did. The fabrics are printed in Britain and the majority of designs are hand-printed. It is a truly British brand and belongs to a generation of mums with a passion for crafts and for the hand-made. We have been witness to a growing appreciation of the make-it and do-it-yourself culture which we celebrate on our blog with the Monday Makery.

Now the new generation of mums who love to make stuff can get some creative satisfaction from making a Clothkits piece, and there'll be a whole new trunk of treasured things to hand down and share.

Rob Ryan says: "Everybody I spoke to about Clothkits has lovely memories of the clothes they had made for them when they were children. It was more than a company, it was part of people's lives." (source: Telegraph magazine)

Clothkits is a cherished part of our lives and we are so happy to be sharing it with you at Sisters Guild.
Pop along to the Boutique and discover Clothkits here

NEWS! We are really excited to hear that Clothkits are now doing sewing workshops -
find the details on the Clothkits website

This is part of our series of blog posts about the Story Behind our Collections - why we've chosen the designers that are in the boutique and how those designers came to be.

To see a bit more of what Sisters Guild is all about take a look at the A-Z of Sisters Guild here.

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Tuesday, 14 June 2011

The Story Behind our Collections: Little Duckling

When we were planning the Sisters Guild Boutique the girls clothing collections were very easy to choose but boys clothing was an area we weren't quite so sure about. Even though I have a boy myself I was yet to find a collection that had boys clothing to get excited about. That was until we arrived at Bubble London in January 2010. We saw Rosa Wiland's fantastic stand with 70's wallpaper and vintage toys, with a wonderfully tailored and nostalgic collection of clothes in denim, blues, browns and dusty orange. There it was - Little Duckling - a joyful discovery.

We were so enchanted by Rosa and her designs and we knew we had found a perfect collection for the Sisters Guild boutique - handsome and wholesome clothes for boys and feminine and innocent pieces for girls too. I have a passion for print and pattern and know how hard it is to find gentle and subtle patterns for boys. Rosa fulfils that need for prints for boys that are not so stereotypical by creating patterns that are unisex. Each season Rosa designs new prints for the collection and previous seasons have included the heart-warming field and farm print and the delightful kite print:

It is clear that Rosa is in touch with the innocent and free-spirited side of childhood and that is always reflected in her designs. The Little Duckling pieces are honest and playful, with detail such as oversized buttons, stripey retro elastic straps for dungarees, heart shaped cuts on the dresses, pinafores, pleats and gathered skirts.
I think the key to her design is the balance of style and practicality. With each piece there is no fuss, just subtle detailing that adds style and individuality without taking away the comfort of the garment.

There is an English rural charm to the Little Duckling designs, with a clear folk influence that comes from Rosa's Scandinavian roots. Rosa is from Denmark and is now living in London. Having studied fashion in Denmark and achieved an MA along with a prestigious award she then spent years in the fashion industry in London. Rosa took the leap to create her own design label after she had her daughter Frida. The inspiration a child can give is a powerful thing and for Rosa it was teamed with a feeling that the market needed something new and unique and playful. Rosa is so clearly passionate about what she does and each season she achieves a collection that is so charming and thoughtful and full of the wonder that childhood is all about.

With Rosa's collection you always know you are going to get the perfect mix of tailoring, fabrics and detail; pieces that are created with thought and imagination, with style and comfort too. They are unique additions to your childs' wardrobe that will be the favourites to be worn time and time again.
For spring summer 2011 the Little Duckling collection has a fun 'Festival of Britain' summer vibe with reds, blues, greys, creams and checks in fine cotton and linen.

I'm sure others share my excitement to see what new designs she will create next. We are heading over to Bubble London this weekend and it is Rosa's collection that we look forward to with wide-eyed wonder!

View the current Little Duckling collection here

Tuesday, 10 May 2011

The Story Behind our Collections: Rice DK

Rice DK is a Danish company that is so full of joy that they even have their own song! 'Add some spice to life with Rice.'

Rice DK designs the kind of homeware that brings colour to your home and a smile to your face. They have a strong design style that is always fun and imaginative. The collections are modern and charming with a nostalgic and slightly bohemian edge. We love Rice and their pieces have been in our homes for many years, so we just had to include Rice in the Sisters Guild Boutique. Each season Carla & I swoon over the new collection and it's such a pleasure to pick things for the boutique and add some fun and colour to the decor, parties and picnics, gifts and imagine and play categories.

Rice DK is well known for their colourful tableware, kitchenware, picnic pieces, storage and accessories. Of such high quality, this is homeware that is made to be used everyday and last a lifetime.

Rice DK brings new inspiration each season - AW10 was 'Cool & Cozy, SS11 is 'Peace, Kiss and Glamourama.' They create new words and new colour ranges each season with wonderful names such as this set of mixing bowls in colours called the 'naughty mix,' a candelabra in 'sunshine yellow' and a Tiffin Box in 'sunkissed' colours. These things really are kissable!

Rice are very passionate about Peacocks, and so are we - such a colourful and ridiculous bird! Peacock designs appear everywhere in their collections. Flowers, butterflies and other nature motifs feature too!

The fabrics are beautiful with checks and florals, cottons and velvet, with embroidery, applique and crochet - divine! There's patchwork quilts, floor cushions, LOVE and KISS pillows, fabric covered boxes, bunting, bags, purses, napkins and fabric frames, all in stunning fabrics and detail. There are hand-painted objects too - clothes hangers, candle holders and candelabras. Rice really know how to take an everyday object - a box, a bag or a cup - and make it joyful!

So, how did Rice Start?

Rice was founded in 1998 by Philippe and Charlotte Gueniau just months after the birth of their son Max.
The creative inspiration after having a child is a powerful thing!

Charlotte says: The idea of launching Rice was in our heads for a while - my french husband Philip and I wanted a change in our lives. We lived together in Paris for almost 15 years. We both had a good job but felt the need to live differently - to have a life where we could travel together to enjoy a calmer day ...My old classmate Hans was based in Thailand - and was already working on interior products. At a VERY long lunch in France Rice was born! Today, more than a decade later, there are over 35 people working at Rice in Denmark - where we have very nice offices and showroom in an old building on the canal bank of Odense (the former shipyard Maersk).

The Rice Design House in Denmark sounds like an inspiring place to be.

Things from Rice are not only colourful and beautiful but they are practical and functional too. This is why we adore Rice - these are beautiful objects that can be used everyday. The things for children are designed with thought and imagination too, again keeping practicality in mind. The Raffia Storage Baskets are some of our favourite pieces of children's design. They make a child's bedroom colourful, help to keep things tidy and they are play things themselves. My son Gabriel has the Zoo basket which he fills with his animals (and dinosaurs of course) and it is the perfect size for journeys and holidays too.

The Rice team are such a pleasure to work with and it is easy to see that their fun and positive ethic carries right through from the products to the people. Their philosophy is NO ONE CAN HELP EVERYONE, BUT EVERYONE CAN HELP SOMEONE. We like that!

Rice DK say that their wish is 'to surround you with homely objects – down to earth but still funky, fun and functional'. Rice DK definitely achieve this in leaps and bounds PLUS they do it in a FAIRTRADE way. Rice DK has such an inspiring and positive vision in the way they work. Rice is fairtrade certified to SA8000 and they work closely with the communities that produce and manufacture its products to ensure that a safe and healthy work environment and their manufacturing is carried out with respect and social responsibility. Their products are produced with a clear conscience. All Rice products are designed and developed in Denmark and are produced in countries such as Thailand, India, Madagascar and China, with respect for people. Rice have a big heart and a strong social ethic. You can read more about Rice special projects around the world here

Rice themselves say: 'Our designs are inspired by the “good old days” and are very down to earth with lots of detail. We hope to colour you happy when you are washing, cleaning, baking and relaxing in your home.'

We are certainly hooked on this brand that has gained cult status. Rice is a true celebration of all things we love - home, colour, fun, nature, flowers, fabrics, food, parties and play! Rice really does bring a smile and we are so happy to offer the Rice collection in the boutique to spread those smiles and let Rice add some colour and joy to each corner of your home!

all images courtesy of Rice DK