We Make London: Designer Feature Series: Meet One Of A Kind Boutique

Nov 19, 2011

Designer Feature Series: Meet One Of A Kind Boutique

About One Of A Kind Boutique:

Hi, my name is Kate and I have my own small business one/of a kind boutique. After studying printed textiles and working in the industry for a while, I became an Art teacher and now combine this with running one/ and being a mum. I am a designer/maker, illustrator and printer and enjoy combining these skills to make lovely things. I work from my home studio in South West London but long to have a real studio one day!

Inspirations:

Keeping sketchbooks has always been a very important part of my design process. I love tearing pages from magazines, collecting labels, tags and scraps of patterns and taping them into one of my many inspiration books. I think this helps create a little order in the creative chaos of my mind and enables me to identify reoccurring themes for designs and collections. I love to write down ideas as well as doodling and sketching and it is from these bulging books that my designs begin to grow into something more tangible.

I am currently completely obsessed with trees, and I think this is something that will remain a central theme for a long time. I am finally feeling very rooted (excuse the pun) with my designs and I feel that I am creating a brand with an identity rather than just new products each year. Trees and all of the places they can be found such as woodlands, forests, gardens even urban streets provide such a vast field of inspiration and I can then interweave the whimsical world of my imagination with stories about the trees and the creatures that live within their branches. Step inside the pages of my sketchbooks and meet Florrie Fern, Miss Peabody and the You and Me tree…

Best Sellers:

I have only just launched my new collection so don’t have any bestsellers yet, although the trees from my urban garden collection have been very popular. I think people like the fact that they can buy one tree or several to create their own indoor garden. Also the stories make the trees very special and personal, along with their little badges. I hope that the trees will become the signature of my brand and that people will collect them as old trees get retired from the range and new seedlings blossom.

We Make Christmas Pop Up Shopping Experience:

Buyers will see my new collection of tea towels, cushions, the urban garden range and make one/ kits. They will also be able to pick up some bargains as I have bits and pieces from my previous collection including clementine wooden hoop bags, meadowsweet shoppers and some super cute key rings all at very discounted prices.