Passion. It’s a strange word and one of my favourite ones. Implying on the one hand an underlying current of danger, on the other a willingness to pursue dreams and believe that anything is possible. Blogging has allowed me to try something different with life and in doing so discover a passion for interiors that I never knew I’d have.
I’ve also met so many businesses, brands and other bloggers who exhibit this same level of passion and had a very inspirational meeting with Ting Hsu, one half of London-based print design studio St Piece, at the Business Design Centre in Islington a couple of months ago.
St Piece specialise in luxury silk scarves and accessories for men and women and is formed of a partnership between Ting and Creative Director Sandy Chang who has years of experience drawn from time spent at global fashion houses including Alexander McQueen and studies at Central St Martins. This already makes me feel that I’m not worthy because even with my very limited knowledge of the fashion world I know how competitive it is and how incredibly hard it can be to bring a brand to fruition.
Yet things are going from strength to strength for the duo since their launch with repeat exhibitions at London Fashion Week and a particular interest from the US with orders placed from power-houses Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus and an autumn/winter collection due to appear in Saks Fifth Avenue so I’m hoping that there may be some stock in their flagship store when we visit NYC in December.
Image courtesy of St Piece
As Ting and I chatted it became clear that one of the elements of business that they’re most proud of is production taking place right here in the UK. Yes, that can place limitations on demand. However with a high-end, luxury piece, Ting acknowledges that maintaining the quality level is paramount for their customers and a trial-and-error approach to manufacture has led to London design which is then passed over to production in Cheshire where the scarves are printed and individually hand-roll hemmed meaning that Ting and Sandy have immediate and easy access to the finished product.
Being relatively small-scale means that St Piece can also evolve and respond to requests from other markets. It’s with this in mind that they have also produced a range of stunning luxury silk cushion covers which are doing particularly well in the Asian lifestyle market. For inspiration, St Piece have taken some of their most popular scarf designs and reconfigured for cushion use – again, all 100% silk satin and made here in the UK.
Image courtesy of St Piece
I’m excited to see what the future holds for St Piece, as a previous small business owner I understand a little of how hard it can be to maintain your integrity but also grow and expand your passions but Sandy and Ting appear to have struck the balance just right.
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