Brilliant Brand Stories of Creativity
As part of our ongoing Brilliant Brand Stories series, this month we’re celebrating stories of creativity. From the heartfelt paintings of Cat Spilman, to the heritage textiles of the London Cloth Company, the meticulous styling of Camilla Wordie, and the craftsmanship of Rosa Harradine's brushes and brooms.
These brands beautifully showcase the essence of creative passion in both the items they produce and the stories they share. We hope they inspire you to bring a touch of artistry to your own brand narrative.
From around the world, each in a different industry, all committed to daring to do business differently.
Cat Spilman ‘Mama’, image with permission from the artist
1. “to lose that sense of self-consciousness, that anxiety for perfection”
Artist - Cat Spilman
For Cat Spilman, painting is a meditative process, where rather than having any preconceived idea on how the piece should look, it is instead an expression of a particular moment and feeling.
In this way, each painting becomes a kind of self-portrait,
“They’re all snapshots of who I am in the moment and what I’m dealing with… When I’m painting I’m not trying to paint with any kind of message or specific thought in mind, I’m just painting based on how I’m feeling in the moment. Then when I look at the painting days or weeks later, I can see what that was about.”
Cat Spilman in her studio with ‘The Cineman’, image shared with permission from the artist
Using mainly housepaint and house painting brushes - originating from her background as a scenic artist in film and television - Spilman consciously limits her colour palette to encourage creativity in her work.
Part of her practice involves attempting to let go of any expectation or self-criticism and she is endlessly inspired by the innate creativity of her own daughter.
“I used to be so precious with sketchbooks. If a page wasn’t aesthetically successful I would tear it out and feel upset and annoyed with the process. Now I buy thick, cheap notebooks and try to be as loose as possible - ignoring pages that are ugly and just taking inspiration from the tiny bits that do work. One of my goals is to lose that sense of self-consciousness, that anxiety for perfection. It hasn’t happened yet…”
Spilman’s current solo exhibition is "Days in Goodness Spent" at Bark Berlin Gallery. She also has a group show opening in Copenhagen at Gallerie Christoffer Egelund on the 21st of June.
2. “No one parties like a weaver”
Weaving & textiles - London Cloth Company
London Cloth Company is the brainchild of Daniel Harris who, completely self-taught, made it his mission to rescue and restore a number of original looms dating as far back at 1890. He opened the first mill in London for over a century and is currently restoring Elvet Mill in West Wales back to its former glory. Daniel now has the largest collection of restored looms in Europe.
He shares his journey on Instagram with honesty and humour. From the highs:
“It’s go time. The day we made a warp and started weaving on a loom that had sat for over 30 years.”
to the lows: “I cannot even begin to list all the nightmarish things about setting up this loom.”
It is Harris’ creativity that has got him where he is today and it shines through across all parts of the business, from the products he makes, to his Instagram captions to the heroic job of dismantling and reassembling the often rusting, neglected machinery that has sat unused for over 30 years and get it working once again.
Food portrait of Camilla Wordie’s grandmother, photography by Natasha Alipour-Faridani
3. “moving objects by millimetres, adjusting angles by the degree”
Art director and stylist - Camilla Wordie
Camilla Wordie understands it’s the little details that make a big difference. Whether the micro-adjustments in styling a shoot to how the small habits in our everyday lives can spark conversation, connection and joy with others.
Inspired by routine and daily life, Wordie uses everyday objects to tell the stories behind her compositions with a playful yet minimal aesthetic.
One such example is Wordie’s brilliant recent exhibition ‘Eat to Live or Live to Eat’, where she interviewed 10 individuals, from artists to shop owners, designers, chefs and storytellers to learn their food habits. Based on each interview, Wordie created a ‘food portrait’, telling the stories of each person’s food habits, memories and the 10 ingredients they couldn’t live without.
Portrait of art director and stylist Camilla Wordie
“From anchovies to tinned peaches, ingredients you may love or hate”
Prints, plates and postcards from the exhibition can be viewed and bought online here.
Rosa Harradine in her studio in Wales
4. “slightly wonky with a beautiful indentation along the handle where a vine has grown around the hazel”
Brush and broom maker - Rosa Harradine
All Rosa Harradine’s brushes and brooms are made entirely by hand in her studio in West Wales. From sorting the broomcorn, cutting the sticks for handles, carving, sanding oiling, binding and finally stitching. The only mechanised part of the process is using a small chainsaw to cut the sticks for broom handles.
“I measure every piece of broomcorn by hand and sort it by length, and then quality. The scruffiest bits go on the hidden inside layers and the nicest pieces go on the outside. I stand at my workbench in front of the window and listen to a podcast as every single piece of broomcorn passes through my fingers.”
Image shared with permission, shot by Tara Juno Rowse
For Harradine, it is essential that her items are both functional and beautiful in their own right. Designed to feel tactile, something someone doesn’t want to put down (or put away), intended to be used just as much as admired hung on a wall.
As Harradine so beautifully puts it, “There are two types of people in this world. Those who think a brush would make a great present, and those who don’t”.
I am certainly one of the former.
Want to discover more brilliant brands? The stories continue on Instagram @simplemattersmedia and sign up for our monthly newsletter ‘Stories Matter’
Five Brilliant Brands With Love Stories At Their Heart
For February, we're celebrating brilliant brands created with love, passion and a desire to do business better. From different industries and with a variety of styles, they all share their work with captivating storytelling, including a bookshop, furniture maker and ceramics company. We hope you love them as much as we do.
From around the world, each in a different industry, all committed to daring to do business differently.
Image with permission from Salted Books. Photographer @Iamlaurengrant
1. ‘Buy books from bookshops. Not a billionaire.’
Bookshop - Salted Books, Libson
‘An English language bookshop in Lisbon.’
This is a bookshop you can judge by its tote bag - ‘bookshops not billionaires.’
Salted Books (‘because everything’s better salted’) are rewriting the script not just in their carefully curated selection of titles, which owner Alex Holder describes as “a little bit salty”, but in their brilliant messaging.
Losing track of time in a bookshop and leaving with a stack of newly discovered titles is one of the great pleasures in life. But opening an independent bookshop in 2023 takes nerves of steel, passion and pots of just-the-right-blue paint.
‘Tonnes of independent bookshops in Lisbon - we’re proud to be one of them.’
With Salted Books, Alex and her husband are doing even more; they’re pulling back the curtain on the costs of opening and running a bookshop, and it’s not all the romantic love story. With the belief that ‘a transparent economy is a fairer economy,’ they’re experimenting with ‘open accounting’ - sharing their own bookkeeping and the financial realities of the bookshop dream.
Follow all the plot twists of this story on Instagram @saltedbooklisbon. It’s one that deserves a happily ever after.
2. ‘Limited Edition Jackets, available four days a year.’
Clothing - Paynter Jacket Co.
‘We want to bring meaning back to clothing.’
A story of the desire to make the perfect jacket.
‘We take iconic jacket styles and re-make them using the best materials that we can find. All of our jackets are made to order, in limited edition batches, just four times a year. It's our way of making sure we create no waste.’
Founders and couple Becky Okell and Huw Thomas are fully committed to their values and show it is possible to deliver a no-waste business model, creating clothing that’s beautiful, functional and meaningful.
‘We make what we believe in and love. We only create formulas that we want to use ourselves in our own home for our family and for loved ones.’
Follow Paytner on Instagram and sign up for their newsletter, it’s one of the best.
3. ‘objects for life’
Ceramics - Feldspar
‘beautiful things made properly and to last.’
Feldspar is an irresistibly romantic story set in the wild Dartmoor landscape.
‘Jeremy and Cath began by making a mug for coffee - with a wonky profile to sit perfectly in the hand.’
It’s a business founded on a love of family, home and things done properly.
“Our first child, Milo, had just been born, and it sort of made sense to quit our jobs and take three months off. Jeremy’s parents lived down here, so we found somewhere to rent and spent our time growing vegetables, reading Nigel Slater cookbooks and throwing pots on a wheel that we bought from a man on the moors.”
Soon after, Feldspar was born: a ceramic and homewares company specialising in elegant, textured pieces ranging from coffee cups to butter dishes.
And a passion for preserving craft.
‘A mug for coffee…with a wonky profile to sit perfectly in the hand (mugs are only cylindrical because they are easier to make that way)…
…mould making, slip-casting and industrial bone china production are all listed as critically endangered crafts by the Heritage Crafts Association in the UK. Many of the larger potteries in England now only serve as museums and showrooms, with all of their wares being made (more cheaply) abroad. We were anxious to preserve the skills and craft required to keep bone china production going in England, and to show that it is perfectly possible to make things from start to finish in the UK.’
4. ‘An obsession with chairs’
Furniture - Wilkinson & Rivera
‘Guided by time-honoured techniques and materials, Wilkinson & Rivera create collectable pieces for the everyday.’
With roots in London and New York, the studio was founded in 2020 by Grant Wilkinson & Teresa Rivera, combining their collective experience in fine art, furniture-making and design.
The couple uses ‘age-old processes to craft enduring pieces of design’, turning hardwoods (oak, walnut and ash) into chairs that appear to ripple and move.
Based on traditional designs, their chairs are reimagined with delightful names like ‘puffed’, ‘rippled’ and ‘wilted’.
5. ‘A truly personal dance we do and ongoing labour of love’
Design - Pinch
‘For us, the worlds of work and home are delicately intertwined - balanced in equilibrium.’
An enduring love story.
‘every element of this furniture has been made with passion and from the heart.’
Pinch is led by a husband and wife partnership, Russell Pinch and Oona Bannon, creating products that are ‘characterised by a quiet and elegant aesthetic, the result of tireless refinement and an intense dedication to craft and process.’
‘We believe in poetic design and making beautiful things, pieces that endure, inspire and aspire to be inherited.’
Want to discover more brilliant brands? The stories continue on Instagram @simplemattersmedia and sign up for our monthly newsletter ‘StoryWorks’
The Art Of Brand Storytelling With Imogene + Willie
We’re delighted to be able to share the story of one of our favourite brands - American denim company ‘Imogene + Willie’.
Co-founders Carrie and Matt Eddmenson are master jean makers and natural storytellers.
Their story starts with an email sent out at 3 am telling a few hundred people about their dream; ‘We simply want to sew in the back of the store a good jean for both men and women that fits perfectly.’
Fifteen years later, it’s a story of success with two shops, a team of 75 and I+W jeans sold around the world to a loyal community of customers and fans.
But theirs is also a story of struggle, heartbreak and refusing to lose hope…
An American Love Story
‘for lovers of good denim and other treasures’
We’re delighted to be able to share the story of one of our favourite brands Imogene + Willie and to have the chance to speak to the I +W team.
Co-founders Carrie and Matt Eddmenson are master jean makers, and natural storytellers.
Their story starts with an email sent out at 3am telling a few hundred people about their dream; ‘We simply want to sew in the back of the store a good jean for both men and women that fits perfectly.’
15 years later, it’s a story of success with two shops, a team of 75 and I+W jeans sold around the world to a loyal community of customers and fans.
But theirs is also a story of obsession, struggle, heartbreak and refusing to lose hope…
‘The hopeful rise of a fallen dream’ by Imogene + Willie co-founders Carrie and Matt Eddmenson
Q: The story is so captivating because it’s honest and personal. A true love story. You share how I+W was born out of struggle and how it’s grown through risks and uncertainty. Why do you think it’s important to share the reality and did it feel scary to do so?
A: The evolution of our business is not unusual - many businesses face the challenge of staying true to their initial mission statement when up against financial and operational hurdles trying to stay afloat. We try to remain transparent when we make the wrong call, have to backtrack, etc. In 2018, at a pivotal moment in our history, we decided to scale back and start again in order to grow in a sustainable way. I have no doubt that these decisions were made with some fear of the unknown, but ultimately the gut check leads us in the right direction.
Q: In the beginning of I+W, you sent an email to friends and family with the hope of selling 250 pairs of jeans. You now have two shops, a team of 75, and sell your jeans around the world, it’s no longer just your family and friends buying. How has the relationship with your customers changed over time and as the business has grown?
A: We are grateful for the growth of our community and business, but ultimately it does mean it is harder to stay connected with everyone who is a customer now. In the early days, Matt & Carrie knew almost everyone who ever walked through the doors of our shop. Our stores remain a huge priority for this reason - interactions that take place there are the touchpoint that has remained a constant as we’ve grown. Our Customer Experience team is also hugely valuable, allowing us to stay connected one-on-one with those across the globe. They offer interactions beyond online service: they provide remote fittings, and reach out to express our appreciation for customer support. We also utilize other methods of staying in touch, including our email newsletters and social media, as well as community events.
‘In some ways, our story was all we had. It was our identity, our guiding light, our foundation on which to make business decisions. All of our marketing was (and mostly still is) us telling our own story.’
Q: How does having such a clear and strong story help with running the business in terms of decisions, marketing, hiring…working with people internally and externally?
A: In some ways, our story was all we had. It was our identity, our guiding light, our foundation on which to make business decisions. All of our marketing was (and mostly still is) us telling our own story. Our people are hired based on their ability to tell our story. Our partners and people we work with are those who know our story well enough to share it. This is how our community was built, and we owe everything to our community for holding us up for these 15 years.
Q: How do your customers respond to your story?
A: Our customers are incredibly thoughtful and attentive; they don’t miss a thing. They expect us to be transparent and communicative enough for them to make informed decisions when purchasing. They appreciate hearing our process, because it’s a way for them to relate and stay connected to us. Our customers hold us accountable if we ever don’t meet their expectations as far as quality or practices. In turn, when we DO, they spread the word of our company like the gospel.
Q: You’ve focused on doing things well and ‘forever on the quest to make the perfect jeans’. How does the brand story help you communicate that commitment to quality products?
A: While so much of what we communicate has to do with sourcing and production practices, ultimately our products need to speak for themselves and hold up to the expectations of our customer. They come to us to purchase investment pieces, ones that they can trust will serve them for a long time to come. With that, customers provide ample feedback as to fit or fabric, as well as give us their trust that our pieces are timeless designs.
Q: Your story and purpose is one of doing things well, made in the US, supporting community and people. Was it hard starting and growing a business while being uncompromising in your values? Does that get harder as the business expands?
A: It was definitely hard, and in fact, staying true to these values nearly led to our downfall. Starting the business was feasible at such a small scale with the resources available to us. As we started to grow, we were up against production and sourcing practices in the USA that were limited and expensive. Some of the biggest decisions we made surrounding how to make these factors more accessible ended up being mistakes in the long run and put us in very hard times. Fortunately, we had the opportunity to restart and learn from what went wrong about six years ago, starting a new period of growth for the business that has been more sustainable. Now that we are celebrating 15 years since opening, we are so fortunate to have been able to preserve our value set while growing and to have now reached a size that is able to support smaller businesses with the same values.
Q You share your story consistently and beautifully, weaving it into everything you create and do. How do you use it so effectively as a marketing strategy?
A: Thank you for such kind words! We strive to remain a creative-led business, which means we have creative minds at the helm of all strategy. In turn, everyone who has a hand in the process of whatever we do has a beautiful and unique way of sharing their version of our brand story. Through the passion of our team, we are a very united front on how we market the brand. Each of us is an ambassador of the brand and represents it with pride. So while we have an exceptional team in-house that focuses on conventional marketing, those for whom the brand voice and image are deeply ingrained, everyone in the company shares a collective responsibility for marketing in a variety of ways. For instance, our retail team introduces new people to the brand when they walk in our stores, our web team creates an engaging and smooth user experience on our site, our creative team tells stories through photos and videos, and our development team tells the story of textiles through the mills and artisans we work with.
Q What advice would you give to a business owner about how to create a story to share and sell their work?
A: Stay true to yourself, stay true to your identity, even when outside forces try to get you to be more conventional, follow a playbook, conform. Patagonia’s founder Yvon Choinard is known for saying, “Every time we've done the right thing it's ended up making us more money,” and I think this is an amazing principle to follow, based on what is right for you and your people.
Q Which other brand stories do you love and admire?
A: We’ve had the privilege of partnering with some of the folks we most admire in our space, such as Vidalia Mills, Crescent Down Works, Save Khaki United, and Little River Sock Mill, who are each carrying on the legacy of American manufacturing that has been fading around us over the years. Similarly, the folks at Musgrave Pencil Co. have withstood a century of industries and resources changing around them, remaining steadfast to their old traditions. And then there are people in our community, like Cameron and Whitney Weiss of Weiss Watch Company - they own some of the most state of the art technology in the country in their facility, but meticulously do everything themselves in order to offer a perfectly-made product. This list could go on and on!
Q: What’s the next chapter for Imogene + Willie?
A: As we begin to celebrate our 15th anniversary, we are simultaneously looking back and looking forward. We see this as a time of reflection, a time to celebrate how where we started got us to where we are now. With this in mind, it’s an opportunity to revisit the early days and invoke nostalgia for our community while enforcing the values we were based on. This year is all about partnerships, because no one (and no business) is solely responsible for their own success, it comes from the support of others. Looking ahead at our next 15 years, our goal is to keep this momentum going, allowing us to better the lives of our people and leave the planet in the best condition possible.
supper + song at Imogene + Willie. Gathering community around music.
Questions answered by Jackie Berkley, Director of People + Culture at Imogene + Willie
Want to discover more brilliant brands? The stories continue on Instagram @simplemattersmedia and sign up for our monthly newsletter ‘Stories Matter’.