Last week, The Interiors Almanac gleaned an insight into the creative
workings of a very special Interiors shop in Mayfair, for the launch of ‘The Real
British Souvenir Shop’. The New Craftsmen simply began over a cup of tea… so
says its co-founder and Managing director Natalie Melton.
Natalie Melton has worked with many creative individuals as a Mentor
for the ‘Crafted’ program at Walpole, an organisation that nurtures emerging Luxury
design talent. She foundered the shop with Catherine Lock and Mark Henderson out
of “a desire to help Crafts people commercialise”. Natalie continues to support
her protégés, many of whom sell their work at the New Craftsmen.
How did The New Craftsmen come to fruition?
“During my experience working with Crafts people through the ‘Crafted’
program, I met Mark, who was also a Mentor, we were trying to think of ways to
support Crafts people and we wanted to take the program a step further, in
creating a retail platform for makers. Catherine had spent a yearlong road trip
touring the British Isles, meeting makers, learning regional craft skills and
traditional culture.
Collectively we wanted to create a retail space for craft that was
contemporary, that wasn’t just a neutral gallery space and that had some
personality and a point of view.”
Craft fairs often have a reputation for being outdated, why do you
think this is?
The outlets to sell craft is often limited, selling directly from the
maker, which makes it very difficult to achieve the margins they need and to
value their work properly.
Craft fairs on the whole have very little curation, the business model is
to sell space, therefore often High quality makers are not able to display
their work in the best way. We wanted to bring some order to the process and
create a space where people aspired to sell their work and make a space that we
felt could showcase the strongest and most exciting makers in Britain.
Do you work solely with British designers?
“The criteria we work within is British made products, the foundation
of what we do is routed in British traditions and cultural identity, although,
that is not to say that everything has to be terribly British and old
fashioned. Britain by its nature is very multi-cultured. One of our makers
Silvia K, produces beautiful platters which tell a story of her Slovakian
Heritage, Silvia lives and works in Brighton.”
Do you think that Craft has a sustainable future?
“The desire to have pieces that are unique and hand made seems to get
stronger and stronger. It’s a backlash
against mass production and a concern about sourcing sustainably and
localism. Akin to peoples interest
and knowledge of sustainably sourced food, which also translates into the
objects you live with.”
Which aspects of your role do you most enjoy?
“I look after the day-to-day running of the business, the thing I enjoy
the most is working out ways that we can drive the business forward and finding
ways to engage in the local community. Mayfair has a very rich history of the
Artisan, which dates back to the Great Fire of London, which flushed out all of
the Artisans who were based in the City of London and consequently moved and
established their workshops here, becoming a real hub for makers. The gentry
and aristocracy who lived here gave a rich patronage and enablement for the
Artisans to develop work. We are
trying to engage our makers with the local area, working alongside local
historians to create pieces that pull together that heritage.
Many people think of Mayfair as a part of London for the super rich,
that is a bit crass and tasteless, Mayfair still has many makers, from long
established to emerging talents. Purdey’s the gun makers for example have a very
long tradition in making and they have a lot of samples in their archive. The
Footware designer Nickolas Kirkwood keeps his archive and does all of his
bespoke commission’s from his shop on Mount Street.”
The Workshops are an interesting way to communicate with the audience,
have they been a success?
“Aimee Betts did a Braiding workshop here a few weeks ago, a three-hour
workshop on a Saturday afternoon, everyone left with two bracelets each. Amy
teaches a lot, as a lot of makers do, to supplement their income. It is lovely
for craftspeople to communicate what they do to an audience and there was such
a lovely atmosphere!
We have a Woad dying workshop coming up with Katherine May, who will
teach people the Woad dying process, which they can then make purses from.”
Details of the forthcoming Woad dying workshop at The New Craftsmen can
be found here
