THE DESIGNER

HUTA was started by Inez Kochanowicz-Watson and her husband, Jack. Together, they design glassware for the home, from glasses and carafes to storage jars and milk jars. Every HUTA design is distinctive and unique, which is particularly difficult in such a crowded category. Jack and Inez work with a small, family-run glassblowing business in the south of Poland to turn their designs into beautiful and functional products. The word HUTA means factory in Polish. More specifically, it’s a factory where material (metal or glass) is melted to be formed into products.

The Huta designs are influenced by everyday life, mixed with inspiration from the things around us that we know and love. The geometric beauty of brutalist architecture. The timeless functionality of traditional storage vessels. The elegant restraint of classic Scandinavian design. Huta's mission is to combine all of their experience and knowledge into honest and unique products that tell a story and excite their customers.

THE DESIGNER

District Eight Design is an office and workshop located in a refurbished colonial townhouse facing Saigon River in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Originally founded to preserve and develop historically significant buildings, warehouses, and objects in Ho Chi Minh City, the firm has rapidly expanded to include a production line of modern industrial furnishings.

THE DESIGNER

Carolyn Denham and Roderick Field are Merchant & Mills. Based in Sussex, the company was formed in 2010 to elevate sewing to its proper place in the creative world, respecting the craftsmanship it entails.

Carolyn has a degree in fashion and has lived and worked in Italy and New York. She spent several years in Interior Design. Roderick is an established photographer and writer with works in the National Portrait Gallery. He is responsible for the company’s visual style and is currently designing artwork for a wide variety of contemporary merchandise.

THE DESIGNER

With an aversion to fast-paced and mass-produced goods, Lisa Jones founded Pigeon Toe in 2009 with a vision to design uniquely beautiful objects that incorporate a touch of history. Highly curated and refined, each piece is culled from skilled hands, trained minds and inspired hearts.

Lisa has lovingly curated a sustainably aware collection harking back to an era where artisans not only created but also inspired. Pigeon Toe describe their designs as naturally imperfect, casually irreverent and playfully charming.

THE DESIGNER

Teixidors not only creates beautiful woven items but also has a great story behind the company. Based outside of Barcelona, Spain, it is an impressive organisation with two main goals, to help people with learning difficulties and to make the highest quality textiles possible from the finest natural materials.

The company, a not-for-profit organisation, is thirty years old this year and appears to be achieving both goals.

THE DESIGNER

O-My-Bag was created by Paulien Wesselink in 2010. Paulien believes that everybody loves a great bag and great bags are hard to find. Since she had a hard time finding the right bag - basic, elegant and a little old school, she decided to make her own. Paulien travelled to India in Mid 2012 to find manufacturers, as leather is one of India’s biggest export products.

A large part of the collection is made with eco-friendly leather, meaning no harmful chemicals are used. Poverty rates in India are very high so providing work is hugely helpful. Paulien decided to only work with producers who are aligned to the World Fair Trade Organization and provide excellent conditions to their workers.

THE DESIGNER

After leaving Central Saint Martins College, London, Reiko Kaneko, a British-Japanese designer set up her studio in 2007 in the East End of London. She was soon making a name for herself and becoming well known for her quirky and humorous gift pieces.

Recently Reiko has moved her business to Stoke on Trent, also known as “the potteries”. The area is considered by many as the birthplace of bone china as a result of the fact that Josiah Spode, in the late eighteenth century, created a new formula to produce bone china and ”the potteries” became the main centre for its production in the world.

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