In celebration of our One-Of-A-Kind collection, an assortment of one-off pieces from the Elizabeth Scarlett archive, we caught up with our founder Elizabeth to find out more...
What is the One-Of-A-Kind Collection?
As an artist, I am always creating new pieces as and when creativity and inspiration spikes. This collection is a curated assortment of totally unique pieces, featuring never seen before designs and colourways from over the years... It is somewhat of a celebration of Elizabeth Scarlett!
You've created so many designs in the One-Of-A-KindCollection, tell us about your creative process. What are the steps inbetween the initial design and the finished product?
I tend to have a strong vision for the end design but I like to have options to play with. After mocking up my painted designs as graphics, I play around with colours on the screen and request different swatches from our factory based on pantones that I like. Colours can look really different when they are matched against threads and dyed onto fabric, so I need to see them in real life before making any final decisions. I can sometimes ask for up to x20 different versions on different fabrics to make sure we create the very best options for the whole collection. When I’ve seen all my options, I usually have a favourite that stands out against the rest and it can sometimes take me by surprise. An example of that is our mustard zebra, I didn’t expect to love it so much on a mustard yellow but it works beautifully!
Are you inspired by seasonal trends?
I naturally get inspired by seasonal trends as I’m very visual and pick up on them whenever I’m reading, browsing Pinterest or scrolling through Instagram. I screenshot all the time, so sometimes I’ll remember a beautiful image and colour pick from it to create a palette that works.
How do you know the collection will be a success or do you just trust your gut?
When I’ve developed the sample options, I lay them all out together and at that final stage it’s a gut decision. I need to learn to trust my gut more, as it’s usually always right. Whenever I’m not 100% behind a design it doesn’t do so well, and when I love it, we can never get enough of them and they fly out the door!
Do you have any favorite designs from the one-of-a-kind exclusives collection?
