Meet the Maker ~ With Pier 74
Tell
us a little bit about yourself… What’s your background?How did it all begin?
After years of being miles apart and careers going
in completely different directions, there was suddenly an opportunity of our worlds colliding in
2015 so we hatched a plan to start a creative partnership in Newcastle. This
decision had been 20 years in the making, proving the point that it is never
too late if it feels right!
Combining our diverse skill set, this creative
collaboration now has a commercial concept to take forward and grow into a
viable business.
Pier74 is a brand producing handcrafted, functional,
design led yet practical textile and leather accessories. They are intended to
become cherished everyday items.
When designing our brand, we wanted to have a nod to
our origins and a strong representation of Northern industry. There is a subtle
visual reference to this with the ‘i’ in ‘Pier’ being a chimney. The 74 bit is
simply the year we both came into the world.
What’s the best thing about living & working in the North East?
What’s the best thing about living & working in the North East?
What’s not to love!? We love being located in the
Ouseburn, the creative hub of Newcastle. It is such a vibrant area and hosts a
lot of up & coming independent businesses. We also love the buzz in the
Grainger Market, the iconic cityscape of our bridges over the Tyne, the public
art and of course the public houses, the Free Trade in particular. We also can’t get enough of the abundance of
beautiful beaches on our coastline.
Describe
your workspace
As soon as you step in to our studio the smell of
leather hits you in the face.
We try to be organised & tidy but this proves
difficult with the amount of donated fabric & leather we pick up every
week.
We have a large central work station for cutting and
pining and we have the sewing machine corner where we house the vintage sewing
machine ‘Bernie’ and the new kid on the block, ‘Big Brenda’ - this is where the
magic happens.
Ange is a bit obsessed with visiting the local
auction house where we have acquired many storage options to house and colour
co-ordinate our wall of fabrics.
It is always a mammoth task to have a studio clean
up and tidy for our Open Studio events but it gets us ship shape - at least
twice a year.
Who
do you look to for inspiration?
We are inspired by so much really - inspiration is
everywhere! We take notes and sketch ideas in a notebook when we’re not
attached to the sewing machine & laser cutter!
Customers approach us regularly to try out new
products that are fit for their purpose, this is a good way of developing new
ideas and techniques.
We also love having a scout around on Pinterest
looking at 'on trend' colour combinations and shapes and sizes of new bags.
Where
do your materials come from?
We are very lucky to have formed a relationship with
a local business who kindly donate all of their off-cuts to us.They produce
high-end upholstered furniture for domestic and commercial purposes.
If we hadn't identified a use for these fabrics
they would just be disposed of, so it’s a good way to save beautiful materials from
going to landfill. It’s a win win for both parties!
As well as being beneficial to the environment, this
method of sourcing materials means we are often able to get our hands on various amounts of luxury materials, such as Designers Guild, Liberty Prints and 100%
British wools.
All other materials and fittings we use are all
sourced in the UK.
What
do you find rewarding about working with the material you use?
The texture. The feel of the fabrics. How they look
and how they behave together. We love the tactile nature of the woollen fabrics
and leather.
We have a passion for merging craftsmanship with
contemporary context and modern technologies.
A love of colour and simplicity drives our work too;
all of our designs combine simplicity with complex detail.
What
makes your work unique?
We focus on developing mixed media materials with
unique aesthetics and technique; and then manipulate them into contemporary
textile and accessory pieces.
Angela is highly skilled with handling the details
throughout her creations. These are created through carefully designed
templates and structures, combining her use of techniques and materials.
All of our creations are handcrafted, eco aware and
sustainable products. Every element of the product is designed and made by us
which means no item is the same.
What’s
the favourite part of your job?
We enjoy meeting our customers, a lot of them are regulars
who have bought from us from day one. Mushroom Works has a lot of regular fans
who come to Open Studios, which is a really special thing. It's a really nice
opportunity to catch up with them and discuss product developments.
Open Studios in particular has helped to grow our
fan base and raise our business profile. The last event lead to several new
commissions, as well as making individual sales and meeting existing and
potential customers.
We love being around other makers in the building
too. It's just nice knowing that they're there; it's much harder to motivate
yourself working in isolation.
It's also great to be around others to talk about
ideas and pinch each other's biscuits!
What’s
your bestseller?
Pier74’s signature designs combine wool and
leather. We have a few firm favourites
with our customers, top sellers are our War Paint & Man Stuff pouches and
also the Gin & Prosecco coin purses.
What plans do you have for the future?
2016 was all about launching, focussing on business
objectives, planning a strategy and prototyping. 2017 has been about marketing this new brand to a
much wider audience. It's about getting it out there, turning a creative
business into something that's financially sustainable and making a name for
ourselves as designer makers.
Our plans include further developing the distinct
woollen fabric accessories collection we have so far created and to also introduce
a core collection of leather accessories with customisable elements.
By the end of the year we aim to have a strong
online presence and to build relationships with new stockists/retailers. We
remain philosophical about our business, whatever happens, we are really enjoying
the journey and learning so much, but it's still a work in progress.
For the moment we are happiest taking a slow and
steady approach. Building in confidence in what we are doing is a very
important part to our creative development and to our business partnership.
We have identified which parts of the business we
want to focus on and which we need additional support with. We will keep 100%
of the making in house and maybe get support for other elements of the
business, like marketing, PR, sales and so forth.
