A Year in the Life of Williams Handmade
2013 has been a Great year for Williams British Handmade and I wanted to take the time to look back over everything which has been achieved and to say a massive thank you to everyone who has helped support and grow the label this year.
The Year got off to a good start when I was shortlisted as a finalist for the Ketel One Modern Craft Award. This was a great experience and I got to meet a lot of other talented craftspeople.
Soon after this in the Spring I received the Best Newcomer Award at the British Craft Trade Fair. This show is specifically for products which are handmade in the UK and so to win the award meant a lot to me, which was chosen by the lovely people at the Craft and Design Magazine.
In the Summer I was honoured to be invited by Not Just A Label to take part in their taster event for their brand new format of a trade fair ORIGIN in the Veneto region of Italy. It was an inspirational trip with other designers and industry professionals to visit remarkable manufacturers and a day in Venice. I look forward to taking part in Origin in May 2014. Read more about the trip here:
http://www.notjustalabel.com/editorial/the_origin_passion_and_beliefs_teaser_diary
September saw the launch of the Selfridges Bright Young Things project. It was completely surreal to see Williams British Handmade in the window of the iconic Oxford Street Selfridges store and even more so to have the products for sale in store. It was an amazing experience and I was thrilled with all of the positive feedback which I got from the window. Bright Young Things also saw the.
This Year Williams British Handmade has collaborated with Womenswear an Jewellery designer Kirsty Ward on two collections. It is great fun working with Kirsty and I love the results of some very playful and fun designs. I am looking forward to getting back into the studio in January and working on our next collaboration!!
Finally it has been the first full year in our studio/shop at The Fold. Our business is growing here with more and more customers coming back. Please feel free to pop in and have a browse. We also launched the new website www.williamshandmade.com which features an online shop.
I am really looking forward to 2014 and hoping it will be even better than this year. I have met some lovely customers this year and have really enjoyed working on bespoke projects and ready made.
Thank you to everyone who has supported Williams British Handmade this year.
Happy New Everyone
Best Wishes
Sarah Jane Williams
