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FUTURE OF DREAMS VOLUME 13

ESTILA

EDITORS Karolina Barnes Nicola McCullough / strawberryblondebeauty.com GUEST CONTRIBUTORS Paula Rhone-Adrien

PHOTOGRAPHERS Black Ash Studio Mad Seventies Anna Pluskota

COVER ART Shelley-Anne Graham A big thank you to all our editors, contributors and everyone who continues to support ESTILA. ESTILA bookazine is designed and published by STUDIO/ESTILA t/a Palantti Ltd. The entire content of this publication is protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without written consent from the publisher. CONTACT estila.co / IG @estila.co Tell us your story: editor@estila.co Community website: estilacircle.com STUDIO/ESTILA: studioestila.com

The views expressed in this publication are those of the respective contributors and are not necessarily shared by the publisher. Original work and photography are copyrighted by its owner. ISSN 2398-9041 Printed in the United Kingdom.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF ESTILA

“ The way to your dreams, the way to make your visions come alive is by taking a journey inside your soul. ” Melody Beattie

OF DREAMS

FUTURE

VOLUME 13

Featured brand stories NEWCOMERS

CHANGE MAKERS

FORWARD THINKERS

Taylor Yates p6 B-lvd Interiors p14 Ketevanna p20

Shelley-Anne Graham p26 Bay Gallery Home p34 Epara Skincare p40

Lalique p46 W.A.Green p58 UpCircle Beauty p64

SPECIAL GUEST ARTICLE Science of passion p86 BLACK BOOK p 88 4

INSPIRERS Fawn Interiors Studio p70 Danic Lado p80

EDITOR'S NOTES

o you ever wonder how vastly different the future would be if every-

one followed their dreams? This is a question our cover artist, South African based Shelley-Anne Graham, was asking when creating her Future of Dreams art piece. "Of course, it is not always possible to follow one's dreams, but if those that could, did, and if those that "did" helped those who couldn't. Well, I would imagine that the future world would function on a much brighter and lighter note.", she continues. Inspired by Shelley-Anne's wise words, this edition aims to lift your spirit and mood, giving you hope and an optimistic outlook for the future. Let's move away from the bleakness of uncertainty and look forward to a world where fashion is transforming the lives of those who make it as well as those who wear it (read the stories of Taylor Yates on page 6 and Ketevanna on page 20), where design is meaningfully sustainable and fun (read the stories of B-lvd Interiors on page 14 and W.A.Green on page 58) and where ethical and upcycled beauty becomes mainstream (read the story of UpCircle Beauty on page 64). Learning from the lessons of Lalique story (on page 46), the future is what we make it to be. The future is in our hands. As always, thank you for reading and your continuous support. It truly means a lot. Without you, we wouldn't be able to provide such a supportive platform where independent lifestyle businesses can share their stories. Karolina Barnes / editor-in-chief

CHAPTER ONE

COMERS

NEW

definition

Industry shake-ups very rarely happen without new businesses who enter and disrupt it with a different way of thinking. Newcomers such as the ones in the following pages are those exciting brands that will shape our future of how we buy and consume everyday products. With fresh energy, enthusiasm and passion for purpose, they are set to make an impact. 7

Fashion brand story

Taylor Yates How to build a sustainable fashion accessory brand with social innovation interview by Nicola McCullough, images provided by Taylor Yates

he search for something missing in the market... a conversation with her daugh-

ter... determined resilience... just a few of the elements engrained in the beautifully made, luxurious leather bags by Taylor Yates. Growing up, the women in Karen Yates' life instilled an ethos that if she worked hard she could achieve anything, an approach she would pass on to her daughter, Ellen. Together, the mother and daughter duo created Taylor Yates, exquisite bags named after the women who inspired them. Designing with a purpose to change lives and protect the planet, the young brand constantly endeavours towards greater sustainability, creating collections that customers will love for life. Founded on a strong belief that social innovation and business can create powerful value, and give something back that will have a positive impact on the world, Karen's drive for social change elevates Taylor Yates brand to new heights and a positively optimistic future. Already been awarded the prestigious Butterfly Mark by Positive Luxury for sustainable practice and choice of material - its soft, tactile leather is sourced close to home as a by-product of food production, tanned and hand made into bags here in the UK. We spoke with Karen about her aspirations, challenges and how to blend business and social innovation. 9

We love that storytelling is so central to your work and would love to hear your own, including the inspiration behind Taylor Yates. Our story started with a realisation that brands needed to change. Increased access online meant people wanted to know more, they expected more and we believed they deserved more. An early aspiration was to create the ‘Toms Shoes’ of handbags, which isn't easy as a start-up with small funds. This thought coincided with my daughter, Ellen passing her driving test, getting her first ‘proper’ part-time job and starting to carry a handbag. She was 17 and I wanted to buy her a beautiful bag for her 18th birthday, seeing this almost as a rite of passage moment. There were lots of lovely ones available but they were either too obvious, too expensive or just not the look we liked. I talked to Ellen about it, a clichéd ‘kitchen table’ chat. We knew what we wanted; it was understated, unstructured and beautiful as well as sustainable, practical and socially responsible. We launched with five styles and four colours, two years later in November 2016. What inspires you each day? The generosity of people and the power of saying yes is inspiring; we have had a lot of help along the way and believe we have helped a few other people too. Ellen has started and finished her degree... I have been working full time and building Taylor Yates. People's kindness and support is a constant inspiration. Tell us about the important women in your life and your Giving Back policy. We knew early on that we wanted to name the designs. We were talking about helping women to gain confidence and grow, which reminded me of the women I had grown up with, how strong and determined they were and how they had somehow instilled in me that if I worked hard I could achieve anything. They were Alice, Mary, Mavis, Tilly & Doris - my Nana, Mum, Aunts - and Doris the hairdresser we spent every Saturday morning with.

Working with charities to support women and now planting a tree for each bag is central to our desire to give back.

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An early aspiration for us was to create the “Toms Shoes of handbags“, which isn't easy as a start-up with small funds. 10

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Our purpose is to grow a profitable, sustainable business that exists to delight our customers and give the freedom of choice that we enjoy to mothers and daughters around the world. 11

What makes a successful design - and where does your design process begin? I suppose it's only a success if other people love it but for us, it's about the simplicity of shape and form - and letting the material inform the end result. We often start with something from the past, either an actual product or a shape... we are quite practical so a need can also inspire a new design. We are seasonless and would like the collection to evolve over time rather than be completely trend-led.

What do you consider to be the most important qualities in running a successful business? Patience and tenacity, especially if you are going to start from scratch; you need a lot of determination. What was the most challenging element of establishing your brand? Confidence can be a huge challenge. Part of building a brand is creating a visual identity, an aesthetic, an authentic narrative. This can make everything look wonderful, which is great, but it can be very challenging to keep up the momentum on the inside. And your greatest highlight(s) to date? An early highlight was being invited to London Fashion Week in 2018. Since then we have had some amazing press and some amazing people now have a Taylor Yates bag in their wardrobe. But honestly, seeing the joy on someone's face or getting an email to say 'thank you I love it' is always a highlight. Recently Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton + Derry Girls) posted a pic with our Alice bag on Instagram and had a quick chat, which was a definite wow moment. What's the best piece of business advice you've ever received? Always keep an eye on your cash burn. Where would you like to see your business in five years? We would love to see it in all the fashion capitals and worn by understated stylish people all over the world. Describe your perfect day. At work, we are happiest talking colour, texture and design along with planning the next campaign or our next sustainability project. Outside of work... sunshine, great company and music somewhere beautiful.

Website: tayloryates.com IG: @tayloryates.co

B-lvd Interiors

Future design today interview by Karolina Barnes, images provided by Lucy Bunhill

hile there is certainly more awareness about sustainable design, there is

still a long way to go to making sustainability mainstream. Designers like Lucy Bunhill play a major role in this shift. By collaborating with sustainability-driven suppliers on one hand and educating and informing clients on the other, future design can potentially improve the lives of everyone on this planet. Originated from using elements of her initials Lucy Victoria Bunhill, along with a desire to create a business people could relate to and create a connection with (Be loved), B-lvd Interiors mission is to present environmental conscious interior design in a whole new light, creating inspiring, elegant designs and spaces while considering our environmental impact for future generations whilst supporting talented craftsmen and women within the UK. Lucy's upbringing not only shaped her passion for creativity, design and love of nature but also led her into a career in the creative industry, where she developed twenty plus years of experience in the advertising and branding world, working in graphic design, styling, photography and project management before completing a Diploma in Professional Interior Design to reach her ultimate goal. Here we chat to Lucy about using her previous career experiences, creativity and knowledge, and how it fuels a new direction of her life and the business she started last year.

Can you tell us about your journey and what has led you to start B-lvd Interiors? B-lvd Interiors was the result of being made redundant while self-isolating with suspected Covid just at the start of the pandemic, back in March last year. Rather than sitting about and worrying about what to do, I decided to set up a business I had only dreamt about, and turn it into a reality. Having worked in the commercial industry for many years in advertising and branding, working as a project manager and in client facing roles, more recently working on commercial interiors for branding projects I saw an opportunity for an interiors business that specifically explored more sustainable interior design opportunities. Providing clients with the opportunity to make more informed decisions about the products available to them, working with recycled and reclaimed high-end products and suppliers, sourcing high-end second hand furniture and working with businesses that specifically explore more sustainable practices and methods. I am particularly keen to work with British designers, craftsmen and women and explore a more circular economy within this industry. Creating spaces using our homegrown talent, with a special interest in those designers and suppliers who are more sustainably considerate, is so important. .

How has your upbringing influenced your values and passion for sustainable design? Having moved from the outskirts of London and then grown up surrounded by beautiful Hampshire countryside for the best part of 40 years, my father a builder and my mother a professional singer and creative, who always built and renovated their own homes and interiors. I was always surrounded by sympathetically created and meticulously redesigned homes and beautiful outdoor spaces. My father is known for repurposing anything he can get his hands on, whether that is building a greenhouse using old scaffolding planks and anything else he can find or repurposing shelving units to create a beautiful study. My mother, a professional singer and musician by trade, a talented artist and keen landscape designer, has always created the most welcoming of homes and has definitely played a huge role in the direction I am now heading with my own business. Biophilic design is not a new concept but there is definitely more awareness about it. How do you work with clients who want to go down this route? Do they request it or do you educate them and propose the direction? Biophilic design has been around for many years, whether it has been used subconsciously or consciously in our homes and offices today. I feel it has certainly become a buzzword more recently. I don’t think people really appreciate what it actually entails or even means or even how it can influence and support our day to day lives. I have found, however, that when discussing incorporating biophilic design into clients' spaces, they have all been very receptive and embraced it. I work with both commercial and residential clients and more often than not I will incorporate elements of this within the spaces I design, whether that is through the use of more sustainable materials, exploring more environmentally safe paints or wallpapers, exploring how the light works within a room and embracing and enhancing it, or even creating connective and engaging experiences within a space and including greenery and live planting. These simple elements can make a huge difference to interior spaces. I'm working on an exciting project at the moment at a children’s school, I’m keen to create a space they can feel inspired and excited to encourage learning, a space that can help support their wellbeing and for them to feel safe. The board and all the team members involved have been completely supportive of the ideas I have proposed and absolutely love it. It is going to be an amazing space for the children once it’s completed and I’m thrilled to be able to work with people who completely embrace this way of thinking especially for the next generation.

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I am particularly keen to work with British designers, craftsmen and women to explore a more circular economy with this industry. 17

What’s your favourite product you came across recently and thought was a great sustainable alternative? I've been exploring a number of incredibly talented furniture makers recently, all of whom are particular driven towards a sustainable business mindset, in particular; Angus Ross who sources the wood for the furniture from his own woodland, which he monitors and manages as well as Simon Whatley both of whom are from Scotland. Also, people like Konk Furniture, Tom Raffield, Fuzl, and Forest and Maker all UK based designers, who create beautiful sustainably sourced modern furniture pieces. I guess if I was to pull one of these out though, while they are all sustainably driven, Fuzl are specifically looking more into the practical elements of packaging design to fit their products as well as how their products are built and put together. They don’t use nails or glue for their pieces, they are simply linked together using clever interlocking elements within their designs, putting another spin on the flat pack living element, their packaging design replicates this theory using recycled cardboard and clever origami folding and fixing methods, each piece is ‘cut to order’ meaning there is no unnecessary waste. Packaging is a huge part of the problem still with all the products we purchase and this company, in particular, is exploring new methods of how to address this with their pieces. As a society, we are changing the way we shop, while we are looking more into the sustainability, provenance and even the very material sourced and ethical standard of a company, we also need to explore more about the very packaging these products are delivered in too, these items will become a primary consideration for our purchases in the future. From the ergonomics furniture and toxicity of our furniture through to the packaging used.

Apart from your interior design work, you also design your own wallpaper and textiles. Can you take us through the process and who you work with? I am very lucky to work with a number of very talented people who understand the importance of supporting sustainable production methods, for my fabrics and wallpaper, in particular the Silk Bureau (www.silkbureau.co.uk) for my digital fabric printing. But more recently I’ve been working with the team at Addicted to Patterns (www.addictedtopatterns.uk), who is helping me with one project in particular and the team at Wall Murals (www.wallmurals.co.uk), both of whom have been actively supportive, finding the best solutions for the clients using sustainable papers and inks. You are very passionate about sustainable products in interiors, what are your plans for the future? Sustainability within interiors still has a way to go, but we are making progress, and while companies seem to say they are sustainable, actively being it and saying you are are two different things. Some clients are on board, but some find it still a struggle to pay a little over the odds for sustainable fabrics for example, which means that only those with the bigger budgets tend to be willing to spend more on this. Hopefully, in future, these more sustainable methods of production will go down in price to ensure the average person can have a greater selection that helps the planet too. For me personally, I’m keen to explore more in this area and liaise with those working with sustainable products and methods to showcase their work to the masses, and get them known. I have a few ideas up my sleeve that I’m working on and hopefully soon I’ll be able to share more with you.

Website: b-lvd.co.uk | IG: @b.lvdinteriors

Ketevanna

Making fashion kind words and photography provided by Anna Megrelishvili

hile growing up in Tbilisi, Georgia, Anna used to watch her mum Ketevan

create beautiful garment pieces for her friends, family and neighbours. In those days, limited clothing options meant that clothes especially for women were boring and uninspiring. Ketevan wanted to change that so she bought more exciting fabrics from the black market and designed new pieces for her friends. It was her way of empowering them and giving them confidence. Moving to London over ten years ago, Anna’s passion for designing and creating clothes got absorbed by London’s captivating lifestyle. Only when she decided that she was going to design her own wedding dress, she reconnected with her roots and working with her mum created a completely new design. After this wonderful working experience, Anna started creating more pieces with Ketevan which has led them onto founding KETEVANNA, a new independent fashion label to empower and inspire women, showing them that sustainable and ethical clothing doesn't have to be a compromise and that fashion can be kind to people and the planet! In the following pages, Anna tells us more about her vision and mission for KETEVANNA. 21

THE CONCEPT When I was thinking about starting KETEVANNA, I was frustrated with the lack of options on the market for women like me - women who want to shop sustainable and ethical fashion but don't want to compromise on expressing themselves through clothes. I found most brands were offering bland and boring items which didn't fit my personality. To me, it's not sustainable having to make compromises between values and wanting to express yourself through the clothes you wear. I believe that monochrome colours and capsule wardrobes are not the way of convincing people to wear sustainable clothes. I wondered if another model could solve this problem. What if we put our planet and community at the centre of everything we do while offering wardrobe items that can be fun and self-expressive too? KETEVANNA was born from this idea. DESIGNING COLLECTIONS FROM DEADSTOCK FABRICS AND RECYCLED MATERIALS Our collections are made from deadstock fabrics so even though I get inspiration from almost everywhere - architecture, nature, art, social events, people - the final design inspiration comes from the fabric itself. The process is therefore slightly different to traditional fashion design. From the onset, we set out to be a responsible fashion brand and so we source sustainable fabrics first and then work with them. Even though this can present itself with more challenges, we don't have the luxury of a lot of choices, as you have to work what you find and what is in front of you, it pushes me creatively. To me, it’s almost like the fabric communicates to me with its feel and drape. What keeps me coming back to deadstock fabric, in particular, is knowing that by rescuing textile waste and upcycling end of roll materials, we reduce the carbon footprint of each garment by around 30%, according to estimates provided by Carbon Trust. Aside from minimising the volume of waste and GHG emissions, we are able to reduce the need for production using new or raw materials which means a reduction in air pollution, water pollution and conservation of resources. While working on our latest collection, we have introduced innovative regenerative and recycled materials, which is very exciting. This will bring us closer to our goal of making our clothes fully biodegradable or fully recyclable.

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By rescuing textile waste and upcycling end of roll materials, we reduce the carbon footprint of each garment by around 30%.

OUR MISSION AND VISION It is our mission to create high quality fashion not only beyond seasons and changing trends, but more importantly make a positive change through our 4-dimensional sustainable development plan, which includes environmental, social, cultural and financial aspects of running an independent fashion brand like KETEVANNA. We care deeply about the makers and our aim is to empower them by creating an environment where they learn new skills and feel valued, and by providing them with fair living income and economic empowerment so they feel proud and fulfil their potential in their personal and work life. Our goal for 2025 is to help 300 people into work and give them the professional skills and opportunities they need to progress in the future. We are fully committed to creating and running a fully traceable and transparent supply chain.

Website: ketevannaofficial.com IG: @ketevanna_official

Future of Dreams

CHAPTER TWO

MAKERS

CHANGE

definition

Changemakers have one mission in common - to change the world for the better. Whether it's for people, society or the planet, changemakers are driven by positivity, optimism and passion for life. They want to inspire others to make a change too and use their character traits in their own stories of change and progress. Here we share some of those stories.

ESTILA Vol 13 FUTURE OF DREAMS