Mon, 27/03/2017 - 15:01
Spring 2017 sees the launch of a special new design for Elsie Jayne, the collection called Wild Terrain features artwork created by Haydn, son of the company’s director Kirsty Vessey.
Elsie Jayne is a family run business – from design and sourcing to photography and modelling they use family and friends. Their clothing is designed by real mums for families and includes nursing wear, children’s wear and accessories.
Kirsty comments: “This design is extra special to us because the illustration was drawn by our son Haydn when he was six years old. We loved it so much that we decided to share it.”
The idea for Elsie Jayne first started back in 2008 after the birth of Kirsty’s first child. She began the brand in a small shed at the bottom of her garden where she created clothes and accessories for mums and children to sell at markets and festivals around the country. She now sells her designs from her online shop at www.elsiejayne.co.uk
Kirsty says: “The very fact that I am now a clothing designer is bizarre given that my educational and working history was scientifically based. I didn’t intend to start a brand. Our breastfeeding range was born out of the frustration that I felt when I could not find breastfeeding dresses that I liked. I teamed up with Helen Howe, a pattern cutter, to produce a series of dress patterns. It was Helen who encouraged me to develop a range for children. There was one last thing that I needed to learn and that was to screen print my own designs onto fabric which I managed to do with the help of Green Door Printmaking Studio.”
Kirsty has now teamed up with Green Door to run screen printing workshops which will be conducted entirely in BSL (British Sign Language).
Today Kirsty designs, screen prints and makes her range from her studio at Banks Mill and you can visit her during the Derbyshire Open Arts festival on 27-29 May when her studio will be open to the public. Find out more about other artists exhibiting during the festival at www.banksmill.co.uk/darts2017
Photography by Diana Martin Photography