Shelter

Karie Reinertson makes beautiful handcrafted bags under the name of Shelter. I first saw her work on Madesmith and was intrigued to find out more.

How did Shelter begin? Shelter started in the Green Mountains of Vermont when a couple of generalists got together and wanted to collaborate. Soon after, we moved to Asheville, NC, and have been focusing on canvas and leather bags, alongside home and cabin design/build. My favourite combo! Do you make everything yourself? For the most part, yes. When we have larger orders, we work with a worker-owned sewing cooperative here in North Carolina to help with certain aspects of the bags. What is your favourite part of the making process? Designing is my favorite part of the process. The transition from idea to tangible piece is an incredibly satisfying process. I also love working with leather. It feels like a collaboration - leather is a beautiful, sturdy, and challenging material to work with and it deserves time and respect. What materials do you use? I use the highest quality canvas, waxed canvas, leather, and hardware I can find. I also use ikats and African textiles. I like to mix different patterns and textures together. Where are you stocked? Boutiques in the US and abroad, and online through my own web shop. Exclusive collaboration pieces can be found online at Madesmith. Do you have any exciting plans for the future? Yes, super exciting plans! Soon I will be offering a collection of one of a kind and bespoke leather inlaid handbags. More on that soon... To follow that journey, please follow us on Instagram at @shelterprotectsyou and @theceremonycollection

Thank you Karie!

Photographs by Jen Altman for Madesmith

Buckitt Bag

I am always in search of the perfect bag and finally, I think I might have just found it. The Buckitt bag is a simple, high quality, hardwearing, British-made leather bag that is designed for everyday use. It is big enough to carry groceries and a lap top, yet smart and elegant too. Rae Jones was inspired to design the bag after seeing hordes of otherwise stylish women using grubby canvas totes, and even supermarket plastic bags, to carry their day-to-day belongings in. I am very guilty of this, I admit! The Buckitt bag is manufactured in a century old factory in Manchester, utilising the best of surviving British craft skills. It is made of high quality vegetable dyed leather that will age beautifully and is designed so that all components can be easily replaced should they wear out. You don't have to worry about losing your keys or purse at the bottom of the bag either, as there is a clever eyelet feature that can be used to attach a Buckitt loop, purse or pouch. Rae currently has a campaign on Kickstarter, where you can pledge funds in exchange for discounted bags and accessories. This is a great opportunity to support an exciting emerging brand while also receiving a classic piece that will last you a lifetime! The bags are currently available in a core collection of eight beautiful colours with accessories to match. Please visit and support her campaign here.

Project Jelly

I recently met Natalie Collier from Project Jelly and was inspired to hear her talk about her fundraising footwear designs. She makes great jelly shoes (I love the unisex Watermelon Rocks colour combination) and 25% of the profit from every pair goes directly to Mencap, a charity which supports people with a learning disabilities, their families and their carers. It's exciting to find someone working with charity in a fun and innovative way, so I asked Natalie to tell us a little bit more about the project...

What inspired you to start Project Jelly? Breastfeeding during the midnight hours and feeling like I needed to fundraise more! It's a long story, but put simply I wanted to challenge myself to make a change and see if I could start something new. Notebooks of ideas and gazillions of hours later, Project Jelly was born.

What are the ideas behind the current collection? The very simple idea of fusing a great children's shoe (made in the UK) with a big fundraising element. We have launched two colours this S/S13. Watermelon Rocks is our unisex red with a neon line sole. It's our bestseller! Who knew that all the cool Mamas were sick of navy for boys? So I'm really chuffed that the unisex red has gone down so well. We also have our glittery transparent Raspberry Mivi, which is very obviously inspired by the ice cream van lollies of the 1980's - YUM! These two will now be our core brand colours with two new exciting colour combinations due to be launched for S/S14. We would love to hear of fresh colour suggestions from our customers, so please send any ideas to hello@projectjelly.com

What materials do you use and where do you manufacture? It's a secret Jelly recipe blend! No, seriously they are made for us in a stunning Victorian factory in Northampton, the home of British shoe manufacturing. We use an injection moulding process based on the original shoe moulds from the early 1980's. Our Project Jellies are homegrown and proudly made in Great Britain. Plus, any overstock gets ground down and recycled into new shoes.

Do you have any children? If so, what is your favourite thing to do with your kids? Yes, two gorgeous Jellytots! Darcy is two and a half years old and baby Jude. Darcy is in shoe heaven and keeps rummaging through for a fresh pair every now and again. I think I've started off a shoe fetish for her like her Mama. They are crazy about each other and on a good day we love to hang out in our local woods and 'find the fairies' or hang with our buddies at Dulwich Park. On a bad day we're chasing around the house singing Mr Tumbles. The family is certainly complete - chaos reigns but it's all adreneline charged fun!

What is your favourite children's book? Mine is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (enough said!) and a very battered copy of The Walker Book of Poems c.1979. Darcy's is Pip and Posy and the hilarious Sarah Dyer picture book The Girl with the Birds Nest Hair.

Do you have any exciting plans for the future? YES!! A neon orange unisex welly boot for A/W13. We want to keep on raising money for Mencap and designing exciting new shoes. We are backed by the British Footwear Association who are helping us to draw up some future plans so please stay in touch and watch this space.

www.projectjelly.com

Rennes

I was going to show you an Autumn/Winter collection today, but the weather is pretty amazing in the West Country right now and looking at woolly jumpers doesn't seem appropriate. So let's just enjoy the breezy simplicity of these handmade dresses by Rennes instead. Rennes is a small sewing house based in Boston, Massachusetts. From start to finish Julia Okun drafts, cuts, and sews every piece in the collection, placing attention on small details, unique materials, and quality of craftsmanship. The company is inspired by simplicity and the belief that making an item by hand creates community. I love this idea and Julia's dresses (and bags) are my kind of everyday wear.

Kids: Very French Gangsters

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I love this French brand which makes super cool prescription eyewear for three to fourteen year olds. Very French Gangsters launched last year and has now expanded their range to include four different styles, all available as both glasses and sunglasses. Each style also comes in several different colours and materials. I wore glasses as a child and the choice out there was pretty dismal, so I'm delighted to finally see someone offering a range for kids that is both stylish and good for their eyes.

www.veryfrenchgangsters.com