William Morris' Red House

The Red House.

Saturday 30^th May; what a beautiful day.

Determined to make use of our National Trust membership and in the mood to seize the day and have a good adventure, we looked through the handbook. Settling for Red House, the home for five years of designer, craftsman, writer and Socialist: William Morris, we were soon on the train with our bikes down to Bexleyheath.

A short cycle away from the station we arrived just in time for a tour, our guide Alan Hofman showed us around the exterior of the house and in the gardens. We then moved into the house and were guided into each room.

Hofman was a brilliant guide, a softly spoken gentleman with an unrushed pace. His storytelling approach was both entertaining and enjoyably educational.

I learnt not only the details of Morris’ work and its importance as the foundation to the beginnings of the arts & Crafts movement, but his personal attitude to favoring crafted, rather than store bought, furniture for his Red House; an attribute I hold dear.

It was also intriguing to find out about the love stories that entwined Morris and his friends and colleagues connected to the work and socializing within the Red House. An old schoolmate and later regular visitor to Red House, important to note was Gabriel Rossetti and his wife, whose marriage was cut short under distressing circumstances. On sale at the Red House gift shop is a book titled ‘The Model Wife’ which story tells ‘The Passionate Lives of Effie Gray, Ruskin and Millias, all characters in William Morris’ life (written by Suzanne Fagence Cooper). Reading the first page it seems like the perfect book to get lost in on a summer’s picnic in the park. (Go to Amazon for a more competitive prize.) Phillip Brown a fellow blogger, dedicated to Pre Raphaelite Art, has written a review and summary of this book, please go to:

http://preraphaelitepaintings.blogspot.com/2011/02/model-wife-effie-ruskin-and-millais.html

There is also a painting portrait of Millias to see.

The Red House is an important site for its architecture which Morris commissioned Phillip Webb to design, as well the building houses centuries of art history within the walls and furniture, collaborated by the ten owners and tenants post Morris. In the library room upstairs its chimney reads ARS.LONGA.VITA BREUIS, meaning ‘Art Survives life is short’ a poignant statement having taken in the guided tour of the house, its tenants and Morris’ work.

This was the perfect way to spend a Saturday and now I have gained an insight of William Morris’ life and work, I am keen to adventure more connected sites.

To find out more properties connected to William Morris visit: http://www.morrisnetwork.net/aboutmn.html

Many textile replicas shown in the Red House were produced by ladies from the Morris Society that is another resource worth researching if you are interested in textiles and needlepoint disciplines: http://www.morrissociety.org/

Brief Business Statement

Over the years I have accumulated a lot of fabrics and other materials having studied art and fashion and also during internships, namely at Norton and Sons bespoke tailors on Savile Row. A born hoarder, I have always seen the potential of fabrics and objects that other people may see to throw away. And so starting Pip was a natural (if not essential!) project for me to develop.

Pip is an eco- friendly business; all products have been made by myself from end of role fabric, scraps of fabrics that would have been thrown away and from garments no longer worn. The aim is to divert anything heading to the landfill and reinvented into something new.

Each product is unique due to the nature of sourcing the materials. Depending on how much fabric I have and the design of the product, I could produce a limited range of a particular product or an entirely unique “One- Off” piece.

My aim for this business is to develop and grow in line with the profit turn over by starting trade on the internet at websites such as Etsy and specific online boutiques. With a healthy record of online trading and evidence of press coverage I will then approach retail boutiques.

I have already begun sampling product and have produced a sizable stock, practising running a market stall on two separate church faites. An outlet for selling Pip would be a market stall at Greenwich, Portobello and Spitalfields, which I must also aim for.

Elegance

http://www.style.com/video/fashion-shows-by-season/fall-2010-rtw/66311606001/louis-vuitton-fall-2010-rtw/71439331001

Lets see more trueness to the feminine figure, bring on the elegance and dignity. Congratulations to Mr Jacobs!

Britain Goes Camping

I came across this documentary on BBC iPlayer as I was making my PIP products for this coming stall at Greenwich and I loved it so much that I wanted to share it with you.

(I am afraid PIP at Greenwich has been postponed until Wednesday 28th July, as I have a few more products I was to develop and include on the launch Please do come along.)

Do check it out! I hope you enjoy as I did-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00t5hcl/Britain_Goes_Camping/

Green Graduate

Bonnie Friend

14^th July 2010

In 2010 chic isn’t so much about the high end label you are sporting and the Bond Street address of its designer as it is about the back history, environmental credentials and humanitarian contribution of your clothes.

While Primark serves its purpose for last minute holiday purchases and shoes to be destroyed on a night out at some dodgy club in Clapham, the novelty of budget buys is waning and it is about investment and combating the financial guilt with the knowledge that you are simultaneously doing your bit to counter BP’s faux pas in the Atlantic.

So it is a jolly good thing that the new wave of fashion graduates are eco savvy, recycling ready, and are starting their own brands with this in mind.

Amongst the names of tomorrow is Jemima Beulah, who having graduated this year was amongst less than thirty selected graduates to feature in Graduate Fashion Show and has wasted no time in getting her main collection online and sale ready.

While her main collection, Hephzibah, pays homage to her Saville Row training and the almost entirely natural fabric range is universally sourced from British craft merchants, Beulah is not one to sit on her laurels, and this week launches a sub project alongside her designer range – Pip.

Pip is the ultimate in crafty chic, making use of recycled fabrics to produce everything from plaited necklaces and peg bags to tea cosies and hand knitted blankets within the affordable boundaries of just £4-£200.

As a designer, Jemima was inspired to launch Pip after seeing the amount of fabric that can go to waste in the creative process, and felt it should be put to better use. The project’s name adheres to this theory as well – being named after the pips in an apple – the waste product that, put to good use, can grow into something wonderful.

Of course, when you hear that a product has been pulled together out of scraps, you expect it to look like something from a car boot sale. This however, is the benefit of having recycled products made by someone who spends the rest of their time designing high fashion and bespoke tailoring. Like her Hephzibah Pre-Fall 10 women’s collection, Pip sees Beulah drawing on her innate sense of style with a modern twist.

Of Hephzibah, Beulah says: “I have been interning with Patrick Grant on Saville Row since 2009 and I wanted to bring an element of what I had learnt there into my collection especially in the quality and texture of the cloth, from the natural Harris Tweed to the worsted brush wool.”

The series of tailored trousers, jackets and dresses with hidden seams and effortless structure combine natural fabrics from the suppliers of Saville Row and traditional hand knitting and weaving techniques lending the organic theme that runs simultaneously through Pip. It is an unusual combination for a graduate who has not long since turned 23, but Beulah does have a unique understanding of where fashion is heading – refined, recycled and really chic.

“I see this collection sitting in the same market place as Jil Sander and Martin Margelia; two designers that I admire for their conceptual garment construction and innovative designs. The customer attracted to this market will appreciate the attention to detail and high level of quality and consideration in every garment produced.”

As Hephzibah launched last week online, Pip will appear at Greenwich market this Wednesday; an appropriate contrast to the modern market of her main collection, this arena is inextricable from the designer’s creative process, and an appropriate place for the project to start out: “I am excited about visiting antique markets or old rummage stalls, finding something unique and old, made using traditional craftsmanship. I am fascinated by old traditions and purposes for garments and accessories, when designers truly were problem solvers.”

With two collections on the go and not a month out of university, Beulah is sure to make her name in any way she sees fit, although she claims: “I have never pretended to want to be the next best designer; I am not sure when (if ever) I knew that I wanted to be a fashion designer. I simply knew as a child that I liked making clothes, and since then I have been working with clothing and fabrics.”

So if you want to get in on the act while the necklaces are still only £4 a piece, I suggest you get down to Greenwich market next week – besides, it is the perfect shopping excuse – I am not merely accessorizing! I am saving the world!

For more information on the Hephzibah line visit:

jemimahephzibahbeulah.com or notjustalabel.com/jemimahephzibahbeulah