The Upstairs Shop
Where ever in the world I travel in my search for interesting jewellers I come across wonderful designs and designers working in the softer materials of textiles, ceramics, baskets and cloths and I used to think how wonderful it would be to share these treasures as well as supporting the creators who are so often women.
So I opened The Shop Upstairs 3 years ago in our Westbourne Grove shop. A cozy room upstairs housing the work of various artists, designers and craftsmen.
I wanted to have things that our clientele who travel from Tokyo to New York, London and Paris would find things that they don't see everywhere but wonderful hand made, stylish luxurious things. We hope to keep the space dynamic and constantly evolving with fresh treasures.
We carry the wonderful cloths of Pero, designed in India by Aneeth Arora, a labor of love every piece is hand made with love, hands that stitch every heart, close every inning, without a machine. Using hand loomed local fabrics, Anneth creates the rare bridge of traditional skills and designs of India to a sophisticated international audience, with humour, skill and a wonderful skill with colour, and tiny hidden details, like words embroidered at the hem, or colourful tassels detailing.
Zarif is a label started by talented Afghan Zolaykha Sherzad in Kabul working with men and women injured in the war but who were fantastic, trailers, weavers and embroiderers. She created a line of wool coats that are beautiful, warm and very elegant. Zolaykha is committed to the development of her country and knows that the only way to keep these wonderful old traditions and skill alive is to create a contemporary design using these skills and finding a market outside Afghanistan.
Shawls woven in Kashmir of the softest cashmere wools from Himalayan goats from Kashmir loom,
Sabbara - an organisation of Syrian refugee women working with hand embroidered beautiful colourful bags and pouches and crochet shawls.
A group of enterprising Bosnian women knitters who have lived through the horrors of war and are turning their skills to creating pieces to sell outside Bosnia, we have mittens and shawls.
Injiri, cloths made in Rajasthan in wonderful hand stitched cloths with a delicious mix of tradition and contemporary design.
Idli by Theirry Journo who lives and works in Jaipur and whose clothing design sensibility is based in 18th century exoticism and his childhood in Tunisia. Thierry works with block printers and trailers in Jaipur.
Embero baskets woven by the Indigenous Indian communities in Panana, felted animals from Jaipur,