Tag: one another

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Design Homewares Shopping

Ethical homewares brands: Amy’s top six!

One Another

In the context of Marie Kondo, the unbridled purchasing of cheap, mass-produced homewares seems a little out of step at present and just as people started to think harder about ‘fast’ fashion, many people are turning to more ethical options for their homes. From woven baskets to rugs and cushions, here are our picks of the most stylish yet ethical homewares.

Oon: Working with a team of Nepalese artisans, Sydney based homewares label Oon is committed to fair working conditions for its makers while contributing to the social and economic wellbeing of their communities. From rugs to cushions, baskets and throws, the brand’s products are made from natural, eco-friendly, renewable materials.

Oon

Oon

Oon

TK Maxx: A new look for the brand, TK Maxx has just launched a new Uganda homewares collection comprised of colourful handmade baskets and bowls made by remote communities in Western Uganda. The exclusive range is part of TK Maxx’s initiative to help disadvantaged families increase their incomes.

TK Maxx

TK Maxx

Klaylife: We’ve sung the praises of Klaylife before and it’s definitely one of our favourite ethical homewares brands. Initially, the clay beaded chandeliers were crafted exclusively by a community of South African artisans whose lives had been impacted by HIV but over time, as the brand’s popularity has grown, more and more women with differing circumstances have joined the team.

Photography by Armelle Habib and styling by Jacqui Moore
Photography by Armelle Habib and styling by Jacqui Moore
Photography by Armelle Habib and styling by Jacqui Moore
Photography by Armelle Habib and styling by Jacqui Moore

Amigos de Hoy: Gorgeous designs aside, the Amigos de Hoy rug and cushion line-up is also accredited by Good Weave International which gives customers peace of mind that no child labour was used in the making of the range. And by purchasing the brand’s homewares you are supporting programs that educate children while ensuring decent work for adults too.

Image photographed by Armelle Habib and styled by Julia Green and Noel Couglan for Greenhouse Interiors
Photography by Armelle Habib and styling by Julia Green and Noel Couglan for Greenhouse Interiors
Styling by Sarah Ellison

One Another: With backgrounds in graphic design, photography and fashion, Rick and Annette Carter combined their love of design with artisanal techniques to create their homewares label One Another three years ago. Since launching, the duo have expanded to working with collectives located in India, Nepal, South Africa, Uganda and Central America, helping provide safe, stable employment with fair pay to over 60 artisans.

One Another

One Another

Oh Happy Home! “Ethical trading has always been at the forefront of my mind. I’m conscious of fast fashion and fast homewares and I always want to do whatever I can to support the maker and the weaver,” says Amy Eaton of the decision to launch her ethical rug label Oh Happy Home in 2017. On-trend designs aside, we love Amy’s commitment to fair trade – something that sets it apart from many of its competitors. The company is partnered with Good Weave International too.

Oh Happy Home! rug

Oh Happy Home! rug

How to buy contemporary Aboriginal art in an ethical way

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Homewares Interviews Styling

Meet the artisans behind ethical lifestyle label One Another

Employing over 30 artisans across three small collectives in India, South Africa and Bangladesh, ethical lifestyle label One Another is contributing in a very real way to the plight of women in developing countries. We caught up with owner Rick Carter recently,who explained a bit more about the important work of his company.

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“We help provide the dignity of employment with fair pay and clean working conditions. We focus on women with the hope that this provides a long-lasting transformation, where mothers can put food on the table, send their children to school and dream new dreams for themselves and their families,” says Rick.

One such artisan is Akhtar who was married at 17 and abandoned by her new husband soon after. “She’s from a poor but loving family and she’s lucky that her widowed mother, who disapproved of her marriage, took her back into the family home. Others in her position usually find themselves alone. Akhtar’s experience has brought home to all the girls the value of economic independence.”

Akhtar

Akhtar

Another artisan, Nahid, was abandoned by her husband, even though their marriage was arranged in the traditional way – soon after, she returned to live with her parents with her little boy in tow. “Nahid’s embroidery work is exquisite and she exclusively embroiders our Bianca Cash Flags, but she has two mouths to feed and she has agreed to learn how to use the sewing machine. The independence that comes with the higher income will give her a much better chance of being in a position to determine her own future. For now, her little boy comes along to work with her and is the darling of the workshop. We admire her strength of character, which has shone through in this situation,” says Rick.

Nahid

Nahid

As for the design process, Rick and his wife Annette design all the pieces from their Sydney studio. “Sometimes there is a bit lost in translation during the sampling process but it’s always exciting to see something go from sketch to reality to sitting on the couch in someone’s home,” he says.

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“This collection, we have pared back our designs to really focus on the handmade qualities of our products. From fabric made on old wooden looms to hand stitching, loop weaving and knitting, it is all these hands that create beautiful texture and slight variations that make each piece unique,” says Rick.

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One of our favourite design features is the labelling process – each embroiderer or weaver hand-signs the pieces they make. “This means customers actually know the name of the artisan in India or Africa that they have helped support through their purchase.”

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Nahid’s gorgeous embroidery features on the label’s Bianca Cash flags

This season, the chunky knitted t-yarn cushions, handmade in South Africa, have been a bestseller. “They are not only ethically made but eco, as the t-yarn is cut from the fabric left over from making t-shirts,” says Rick.

Ethical and beautiful – what more could you want?

Shop here.

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Designers Homewares

The Sydney pop-up stocking gorgeous, ethically handmade wares

I wouldn’t blame you if you associated fairtrade with chocolate and toys made out of Coke cans. Admittedly, there was a time when I thought the exact same. Sure I knew the products were doing fabulous things for people in developing countries, but stylish and on-trend? Well, that was a different story.

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Yet as I’ve been introduced to more and more brands, particularly homewares, I’ve come to realise that good design and social justice can work hand in hand. Beautiful designer brands like One Another, SHELF/LIFE, The Dharma Door and Once Was Lost all offer wares that are gorgeous, ethically handmade and support communities of artisans living in some of the most challenging regions of the world. Seems like a win win win to me!

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All their homewares are available online, but this month they’re making it even easier to shop ethically, opening a pop-up store, Designed For Good, in Sydney’s Darlinghurst. “For a while I had been dreaming about having a store that was focused purely on stocking ethical products,” explains Rick Carter from One Another. “Nothing would be mass-produced and as a consumer you would know that every purchase you made was going to impact someone on the other side of the world. This dream has now come into reality and it’s all about good design, designed for good!”

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With the pop-up offering a collection of goods from the four like-minded brands, it also has a range of amazing in store workshops hosted by Lisa Tilse, Samorn Sanixay, Julia Denes and Mrs Munro. “We thought it would be inspiring for people to come and create their own beautiful bowl or scarf while being surrounded by products that have all been handmade by talented artisans from every corner of the world,” says Rick.

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Running until 22 November, Rick and his fellow shop-owners have the one simple aim, to get consumers to start asking questions. “There are some really sad and horrifying stories surrounding the exploitation of cheap labour and the violation of human rights. So we want people to start questioning where and how things are made. With our wares we want to share the story behind each product; where it was made, who made it, the materials chosen and the process of production.”

Photography by Lena Barridge

For more information.

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Homewares

Olivia’s Fab Four Insta-Finds 13.05.15

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Olivia’s Fab Four is a weekly post that features my favourite finds on Instagram for the past week. To be in the running, all you have to do is hashtag your product photos #oliviasfabfour and tag them with my handle: @oliviashead.

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Here are this week’s beautiful products (clockwise from top left)

1. Pot Head, sold but similar available, from Pot Heads. @pot_heads_ceramics

2. Quilted Clutch, $140, from One Another. @oneanotherdesign

3. Aztec Pot, $120, from Pop & Scott. @popandscott

4. Essential Oil Burner, $189.95, from Page Thirty Three. @pagethirtythree

I’ll be back with more next week! Olivia x

 

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Furniture Homewares Interviews

Beautiful homewares that empower women in developing countries

When husband and wife Rick and Annette Carter took a trip to India and the Philippines, a seed was planted for what would grow to become their ethical lifestyle label, One Another. With the products very beautiful in their own right, the fair trade component is just an added bonus as far as the consumer’s concerned!

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Then working for not-for-profit Opportunity International, the couple were welcomed into the villages and homes of many inspiring women using amazing skills to support their families. So, with Rick’s background in design and photography and Annette’s in fashion, they decided to combine their love of modern design with the traditional artisan skills of the talented women they had met.

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Creating a collection of ethically made cushions, throws, clutch bags, yarn bowls, yarn pendants, scarves and artworks, their products are less trend driven and more focused on handmade qualities and unique textures. Their latest collection, Intersect, which is now available online and will be in stores early May, combines structural grids, classic checks and 3D quilts using their trademark hand embroidery and hand-woven T-Yarn.

“We love all things mono so for this collection, we kept the base palette pretty neutral so that the textures did the talking,” says Rick. “We have used lots of charcoal marle, cool grey and crisp white, but added touches of denim, pale blue and blush for subtle colour or a hit of tangerine for some zing! Ultimately, the collection is where modern design ‘intersects’ with traditional artisan skills to create products that help empower women to rise above poverty.”

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Currently working with three collectives – that combined provide work for 20 women – One Another has partners all across the developing world. “The perfect hand embroidery is stitched in India, the beautiful loop weaving is from South Africa and the new hand loomed wool throws are from near the Nepal border,” explains Rick. “We are also starting to develop some wall art with a new collective in Africa which we hope to release in a few months.”

Working with women who may be widowed or have parents too sick to work, they provide fair pay, safe and clean working conditions and the option to work at home, should they need to care for their family. “For example, they work normal hours and have a weekend, which is practically unheard of in India. By using their unique skills, we are helping empower the women, transform their communities and create a better future for their families.”

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What is also incredibly special about One Another, is the personal touch they add to each final product. “The women are at the heart of everything we do and that’s the reason why every product we make is hand-signed by the embroiderer or weaver who made it. This signature is a source of much pride for the women as well as letting the customers know the actual name of the person who has put their hands and heart into making the cushion or throw they have sitting on their couch.”

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With the hope to increase their impact and work with more and more groups of women, One Another’s end goal is to open up their own store. “We’d love to showcase some of our favourite ethical brands from around the world and be a place where consumers will know every purchase makes a difference.”

Shop online.

Photography by Rick Carter | Styling by Bettina McILwraith