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Hello lovelies!
This week I had intended to write about nine of my favorite shopkeepers whose emporium-building skills I have long admired...but in the end I didn't get past the first one! As I am wont to do, I meandered and let the links lead where they may...and I was finding so many lovely colorful people, places and things that I never got back to #2 on my list! I think this might be turning into a little series...I just find these shopkeeper types so eye-openingly interesting and inspirational! Here's hoping you will too...
BON |Ā TUCSONā¦
Founded in 2005 by mother-daughter team Bonnie and Chrystal Flynt, Bon is a home, garden, and clothing shop in Tucson, Arizona. I have never been to the shop, or Tucson for that matter, but I've been following them for years...once even literally following-slash-stalking them for a few minutes when I spotted them one booth over at a trade show...watching good buyers buy is a thing of much fascination to me!
The two of us share a love of things that are well made and well designed. We like a mix of new and old, rough and refined, colorful and dark, east and west, fun and serious.
The thing I most appreciate about them is how much care and consistency they invest in telling the stories, through words and images, of the objects they carry. Their website is simple and a little quirky, but to me thatās one of the charmsā¦no need to be flashy or slick. Somewhat strangely they never show the shop as a wholeā¦the below images were taken by Paula Flynn, founder of The Shopkeepers (a fabulous source of shoppy goodness)ā¦
According to The World of Interiors, in an article about Bonnie's home...
Bon teeters on a tightrope between collecting and hoarding, traversing this line with grace. Purposefully arranged curiosities are thrown into relief against white walls, and sunlight dances on the wooden furniture.
PURVEYOR OF THE UNNECESSARY & THE IRRESISTIBLE...
In a list of their favorite shops, the only one the pair mentioned that I was unfamiliar with was Joanne Rossman...so naturally off I went...and what a fabulous creature she turns out to be! She's 84, is still passionately running her lovely shop in Roslindale Village (near Boston), is a gregarious and prolific poster on IG with each caption being an honest no-holds-barred mini novella about her daily goings on, both now and in the past, and her general ups and downs, both in her business and personal life...a fascinating view from the inside!
DON CARNEY |Ā BOSTON...
Bon recently celebrated their 20th anniversary and, as part of the celebrations, mounted a show of new works from artist and designer Don Carney, one of the two founders of Patch NYC...I'd been aware of Patch as a company...but I had never delved into the work of the two founders as individuals.
From a recent post on Bon's blog...
Don Carney and John Ross - founders of Patch NYC - have inspired us from the very beginning of our shop. Don has been drawing the natural world since his childhood - it's his biggest source of inspiration. He started to hone his artistic sensibility while studying illustration and painting at the Art Institute of Boston before moving to New York City...where he met his partner John Ross and together they founded Patch NYC with a small collection of hand-detailed bags, scarves and hats. Today Don collaborates with Astier de Villatte, West Elm, Miriam Haskell, Monoprix France, Antoinette Poisson, Fragonard...the list goes on!
JOHN ROSS |Ā BOSTON...
The multi-talented John Ross is a photographer, prop stylist, and collage artist, in addition to running their shop (both online and brick-and-mortar) where they sell a range of their own designs on trays, pillows, tea towels, candles, stationery, etc, in addition to the works of other designers such as Nathalie LƩtƩ, John Derian, Astier de Villatte and The Green Vase...
Their Boston home looks really beautiful as well...
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LIVIA CETTI | NEWĀ YORKā¦
Both Patch NYC and Bon carry the work of Livia Cetti who founded her paper flower company, The Green Vase, in 2005.Ā The flowers she makes are entirely hand crafted by her and her small staff of artisans in her studio in the Bronx. Each piece is meant to be an impressionistic gesture capturing the spirit of the flower, and no two are ever exactly alike. I now remember seeing her work years ago when it first made the blog rounds but I hadn't thought of it in ages and it's nice to be reminded!
MOMOCA | MEXICO CITY...
It was on Bon's site that I first found the work of Japanese-born, California-raised artist Momoca...they don't seem to have any of her pieces right now but I found a few of their beautifully styled shots on Momocaās site...
Momoca started off studying fashion design, and then in 2000 establishing her own clothing brand and operating a shop in Berkeley, California for 10 years. After closing the shop she spent a number of years traveling the world (between stints of working at the recently closed Tail of the Yak in Berkeley) and "finding herself again".
She calls herself a "universe creator" and, working mostly with hand made paper objects, she creates commissioned art installations and special event decorations, as well as teaching workshops around the world. In 2021 she moved to Mexico City...although she still seems to travel a lot and is currently in Bali.
JEANETTE FARRIER |Ā LONDON...
In the early 2000s, while in the midst of a career in costume design, Jeanette Farrier made a trip to Kolkata and discovered kantha...and that was that! Following a long tradition, kanthas are made by recycling old, much-laundered and soft cotton saris, that are then layered and hand-stitched together by village women, giving the cloth a new purpose and life.
Although she now has a team in place in Kolkata who source and produce for her, Jeanette still personally chooses from the many diverse patterns, color-schemes, and images of the collected saris, a number of harmonious pieces that are then transformed into a single reversible kantha piece with each throw, sham, blanket or cover being one of a kind.
Today, after fifteen years, I am proud to say that my first Indian associates are still working with me. I know their families, I have watched their children grow up.
Recently, in addition to still sourcing vintage saris (which are getting harder to find in 100% cotton), she has joined forces with John Derian who has an extensive collection of 18th century prints, to begin designing and printing new cloth for the kanthas.
HOLLY GOLIGHTLY |Ā COPENHAGEN...
As I was scrolling through Livia Cetti's IG I found some images that intrigued me enough to click through...
Founded in 2001, the recently closed (sigh) Holly Golightly was the brainchild of Danish style icon, Barbara Maj Husted Werner, who designed the highly curated store to look more like a gallery than a regular store with the clothing, jewelry, and interiors pieces set amidst her own personal art collection. It looks like it was a lot of fun...
ANGĆLE FOUGEIROL & NATHALIE LĆTĆ |Ā PARIS...
Bon also carries some of the work of Nathalie LĆ©tĆ©, who I'm sure youāre all familiar with. I was looking through her IG and was struck most by the pictures of her with her daughter, AngĆØle Fougeirol...along with this little film about how they work together.
Thank you all for reading...let me know if you have any thoughts!
xo,
Please smash that ā„ button if you liked this postā¦
Mood board credits: 1-3 Bon Tucson; John Ross; John Derian 4-6 Joanne Rossman; Tim Clinch; John Ross 7-9 Bon Tucson; The Green Vase; Don Carney
I'm blown away! The colours and the interiors and the art. Well everything!
This was absolutely delightful to read. All these magical people are new to me. Thank you, thank you!