Our Design DNA
Plus, my brush with Reese Witherspoon in the noughties and my secret love of a bit of Shabby Chic
(I’ve made today’s post free. However, moving forward most posts will be behind a paywall. Many hours go into writing each piece and I believe all writers/artists/creatives - myself included - deserve to be compensated for their time and expertise. Take advantage of the offer below for full access).
I was recently reminded that 20 years ago Reese Witherspoon dressed her daughter in my kids’ clothing brand.
The reason I keep diaries and boxes of keepsakes is because I’ve done a lot but I tend to forget, I move on too fast. And while this bit of celeb info might not seem that special now, at the time it was a big deal for me. It was the early noughties, I was a young mum, running my own children’s clothing company - Spike & Ella - while living in Seoul, and doing everything myself. It was pre-social media and what mattered as a brand was getting your clothes on a celebrity (that hasn’t changed) and printed in the press (that also hasn’t changed except it’s now published instantly online rather than waiting 3+ months for editorials to go to print). In America, where I was selling at the time, certain A-list actors were having children and getting those children photographed in your clothes and printed in People magazine felt like the golden ticket.
Last week I retrieved a box from the loft, knowing it had old journals in it that were at risk of going mouldy. What I also found was a file filled with things I’d kept from my kids’ clothing days. Line sheets for my wholesale customers, press releases I’d written, business cards, company bios, a business plan I’d written to try to get an investor, even emails I’d printed out, presumably from contacts I’d deemed important enough to not lose. And a tiny cut out of a mention Spike & Ella got in a prominent kids/parenting magazine in regards to celeb couple of the moment Reese and then husband Ryan Phillipe dressing daughter Ava in the brand.
What I also found were scraps of fabric and sketches and photos of the dresses they eventually became. I was struck by their similarity - not literally but thematically - to the wallpapers I am about to launch. My first collection of children’s clothing was primarily in black and pink fabrics (all of which I’d sourced at the incredible fabric markets while living in and running the business from Seoul, South Korea (as an army wife, long story…).
I still absolutely love that collection and feel really proud of what I was doing back then. At the time in the US, Baby Gap and Old Navy were the mainstream kids’ clothing outlets aside from high end, pricey boutiques and none of them were doing what I was. I remember the electricity I felt at that time, that elusive knowing feeling that I was doing good work. All with two tiny kids at home and living overseas where I didn’t speak the language and had no family support. I really felt like I was on fire. Everything felt possible. It’s a feeling I’ve been chasing ever since.
No-one was dressing kids in black and it got me noticed. Twenty years on and my new wallpapers also come in black and pink colourways, among others. Things appear to have come full circle in some strange way.
And the wallpaper patterns themselves bear a strong resemblance to the fabrics I was using back then, particularly Flowers for Ella, named for a tattoo I drew for my daughter that now marks her upper arm, and became this wallpaper.
It got me thinking, does our style ever fully change or does it simply evolve? (Spoken in a contemplative Carrie from SATC tone of voice).
Of course the answer will be different for every person reading this (I’d love to know your take on this) but there is a part of me that believes that many of us have a signature style when it comes to interiors, something we always come back to. For me it’s obviously the floral motif - and yes I’m very annoyed that ‘cottage core’ became such a thing that it got its own moniker. The good thing about the internet is having access to so much interiors inspiration. The bad thing about the internet is realising you’re not that original after all and other people are doing the exact same thing as you.
So the floral thing isn’t original or unique, but it’s what I’m always drawn to. And unearthing these relics from my past reminded me I was doing it back then and I’m still doing it now. I’m in two minds about this revelation. Am I stuck in a dated design rut? Or is this just who I am? I’ve decided to go with the latter. The funny thing is, if you keep doing something long enough, it comes back around anyway. Even Laurence Llewellyn Bowen has come back around. The ruffled collars and cuffs have been replaced by shiny brocade suits but the LLB essence remains.
The evolution bit is what interests me. The way I was designing that first kids’ collection for my brand Spike & Ella would also have been the way I was decorating our home. Lots of pattern and colour, layering, very eclectic in an early 2000’s/vintage inspired kind of way. Back then I would’ve been saving up for an Anthropologie floral block-printed quilt and set of their ceramic measuring cups shaped like swans (I later worked for them and took full advantage of that 40% discount on homeware).
I remember being ecstatic when in 2006 Rachel Ashwell launched a Shabby Chic homeware collection at Target (Tar-jay as we liked to call it in the way some Brits say Primarni for Primark). I so badly wanted her ditsy printed duvet set, the likes of which were hard to find in the US at that time. I wanted a nod to British style in my LA home after living overseas for a long time and Shabby Chic the brand was it.
On a slight tangent, I have a number of Rachel Ashwell’s books, some of which are published by RPS who also publish my books (try telling that to me back in 2006 as I pored over the pages of Rachel’s books, never dreaming I’d have my own books one day). What struck me was how tasteful and elegant and authentic her homes were, as featured in her books, not nearly as wishy-washy as Shabby Chic the brand and the products were to become.
The same thing happened when I did a shoot at Cath Kidston’s house a few years back (Cath Kidston the person, not the brand which she sold and whose designs now adorn everything from toothbrushes to dog bowls). I was styling for one of her many books - some sort of crafting book I think. Another Brit known for selling the vintage floral homeware dream, Cath’s own house (in the Cotswolds I think…?) barely had a floral print in sight. It was absolutely stunning and far, far more elegant than I would’ve guessed. It exuded money in the way you’d expect the home of a multi-millionaire to, but with the style and - there’s that word again - authenticity you’d expect from someone who built a business on vintage style. But there wasn’t much of what her brand was actually known for.
Back then to the noughties, before I was styling at Cath Kidston’s house or writing my own books, my style would’ve been about layering up the florals and the patterns in a way I wouldn’t now. My little house in LA which we bought in 2005 was all white painted floorboards and white walls punctuated with patterned curtains, boldly upholstered vintage sofas, probably found on the side of the street, and the classic gallery wall of art in brightly coloured picture frames surrounding the TV.
Now, I prefer a calmer aesthetic. But the DNA is the same.
And while I love the wallpapers I’ve designed, I won’t be filling my house with them just yet. My home is like a lab, it’s where I experiment, it’s where I style and shoot stories and now products, it’s where I express the constantly evolving design ideas in my head. I can’t wait to paper a few of the rooms - like publishing my first book, I know this will be a pinch me moment - but what I’m more excited for is seeing them in other people’s homes. That will be the real pinch me moment.
I’ll leave you with this, for all you dreamers trying to make something with your creativity. I did well for a few years, but never became the famous children’s clothing designer I dreamt of being back then, but everything I did then lead to where I am now and hopefully to what is yet to come.
(It is always cringey to read things I wrote in the past but I can’t help commending 26 year old me’s ambition and drive to succeed). This from one of the first bios I ever wrote for my first business. Thanks as always for reading x
