Monday, June 13, 2011

STOCKIST SPOTLIGHT: winter's moon

The shops, the people who sell my work worldwide...who are they? What are their dreams, their inspirations, what made them start their own businesses? A feature in words and images with a little surprise-coupon at the end...

This month the stockist spotlight is on an extraordinary webshop/studio, that was actually one of my very first retailers in the UK. When I met Julia and Becky in London last week it felt like catching up with old friends, although we had never met before.

Winter's Moon: webshop - blog - twitter - facebook

owners Julia Grant (left) and Becky Joy (right)

What kind of shop is it?
We sell mainly online but also through occasional sales at events and from our studio.

What do you sell?
We sell furniture, ceramics, textiles, and items for children. Mostly vintage but some handmade pieces too, and our range is quite random – but that is partly what appeals to our customers as they never quite know what they will find.


Our studio is in a builder’s yard built in the 1950’s in our home city of Chichester (we had always loved the original typeface above the entrance). It functions as a storage, photography and workshop space. We moved in last year and it has liberated the way we are able to work, and we haven’t managed to fill it up yet - but have come close a couple of times.


What made you decide to start your own business?
Winter’s Moon started out very much as a hobby shared by two friends. There was nowhere selling vintage furniture in our small city of Chichester, we loved scouting fairs and auctions and friends often asked us to find pieces for them, so we decided to take it a stage further. It has grown very slowly and has to fit around other commitments and family. The business is named after Becky’s house as that is were we started holding open-house sales.

What are your Winter’s Moon ‘classics’?
Our stock changes all the time and most pieces are pretty one-off. However we love getting chairs reupholstered as they are completely transformed and usually go from a sad saggy chair to a very lovely piece of furniture. We really like the work of Annabel Grey and use her fabrics whenever possible.


What are your favourite items?
Other favourite items are vintage toys…They were so well made, have stood the test of time and just are so much more appealing than their modern plastic counterparts.


Do you take your own webshop photographs?
We do our own photography and styling and have learnt through trial and error what works and what doesn’t. For small items we often use a vintage fabric as a backdrop and sometimes add quirky elements to add some humour…we like laughing!


For larger items the focus is using daylight to show the piece at it’s best, plus we add a few extra props usually, but not so many that it overshadows the product.


Can you describe your style?
We do have a strong sense of what our style is, which is due to the fact that we have VERY similar taste. Over the past four years there have probably only been three items that we have not both loved, and this is what has helped us develop our style….it’s tricky to put into words what that style is though!
We definitely have a particular colour palette, greys, yellows, plums and teals often feature.

What articles did you buy for the shop recently?

We recently stocked up on more lovely paper lanterns by Jurianne Matter as they work so well for summer parties, and contrastingly we recently bought several vintage Parker Knoll chairs….they have a strong shape and small footprint so make really useful good-looking chairs that don’t take up too much room.


What do you expect to become a real trend in your business?
Obviously we all are instinctively aware of trends and are influenced by them, but our judgments are based more on just what seems aesthetically right to us.

Any future plans?
We are developing some fabric designs to use on our vintage furniture and also have a couple of new furniture designs up our sleeve…so I suppose we don’t want to be entirely about offering vintage pieces, but more about offering ‘Winter’s Moon’ pieces.

Is there anything else you would like to tell us?
YES! We are holding our first sale in our new studio and hope you are able to come and say hello. On Saturday 25th June & Sunday 26th June, from 10am – 5pm. Check our blog for location details.


Thanks so much ladies, for this little studio tour!
If you are near Chichester, do visit these remarkable women, they not only have a beautiful style, they are great fun to meet as well! Blogreaders who stay at home: don't forget to use their coupon code when you go online shopping at Winter's Moon!

1 comment:

  1. posted your lovely tree cards today – like them so much! beautiful :)

    (as everything here ...)

    ReplyDelete

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