76-77_Ohh Deer.qxp_Grid 21/05/2025 12:57 Page 1
LICENSING LOOK
THOUGHT PATTERN
It has been something of a big brands year for Ohh Deer, and we are only halfway through. Following on from its licensing collaborations with Natural History Museum and V&A, PG Live sees the christening of the Loughborough-based business’ Laura Ashley launch, with its inaugural greeting card collection and giftwrappings collection. PG caught up with Jamie Mitchell, co-owner of Ohh Deer to find out more about the creative embrace of this cottage core heritage brand. Left: To mark the Laura Ashley brand’s return to womenswear with Next in 2024, it recreated The Beatles’ iconic Abbey Road album cover. Below: Born in 1925, Laura Ashley made her mark in furnishing materials in the 1950s before moving into clothing in the 1960s.
“It’s classic, everybody knows it and there’s a huge archive of amazing patterns,” exclaimed Jamie Mitchell, the creative half of Ohh Dear in a flurry about what the Laura Ashley brand brings to the table for the publisher. “What’s more, it not only taps into the current cottage core trend, it started it, over 70 years ago!” Certainly, with a 96% brand awareness in the UK alone, Laura Ashley is part of the weft and weave of our lives. Depending on
your age, the very mention of the name evokes memories of pretty floral dresses in the 70s and patterned aprons galore, the full on retail experience with women clamouring for the fabric for their quilting and patchwork projects lives on for many, while others have only discovered it in recent years through its fashion renaissance in Next or homewares launches. “We were approached by the Laura Ashley team at the start of last year to see if we would be interested in a licensing partnership. Recognising that the brand has a draw with the public made it worth investigating, and so the pattern fest began!” recalled Jamie. Above right: A close up of a design in the Laura Ashley Heritage range, in which the cards are debossed with a panelled central caption playing up to the classic appeal. Left: Ohh Deer’s co-owners, Jamie Mitchell (right) and Mark Callaby.
76 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
A visit to Laura Ashley’s London office clinched the deal. “I was just amazed by the immensity of the archive, years upon years of pattern books on which to draw, as well as a whole room of contemporary mood boards demonstrating how these classic timeless designs are still so aesthetically relevant today,” said Jamie. “I knew immediately that to do it justice on greeting cards would mean playing to these strengths, bringing out the patterns with finishes that remain true to the essence of the brand and carefully balancing the