WALKS IN WILD PLACES — A TRIP TO THE LAKE DISTRICT WITH OUR PRINT TEAM
Here at Joules, we don’t need to look far to find inspiration. We believe that the most inspiring of places can be found all around us, in the breath-taking, exceptional beauty of the place that we call home — the great British countryside. That’s why every year, our design and print team set out on a journey to take in all that nature has to offer, from the bewitching landscape to the changing colours of the season.
For our AW19 collection, we laced up our boots and headed to the Lake District. Like so many artists, writers, poets and visionaries before us, we found ourselves drawn to this infinitely special place. Armed with sketchbooks, Wainwright’s guides, a book of Wordsworth’s poetry and, of course, the right clothes for the weather (for all weathers did indeed await us) we made our way north.
What caught our imaginations?
With nature showing us its full force in the form of torrential downpours, twitching hedgerows and flowers in bloom, this iconic location provided an awe-inspiring backdrop with a whole world of wonders to take in. From the flash of a curious fox’s brush to the pin-cushion like heads of prickly teasles, our designers found endless inspiration for our palettes and prints.
Sat on an outcrop of rocks close to Ullswater, we captured the colours that presented themselves to us. Our sketchbooks filling up with russet browns, reds and every shade of green from dark moss to bright gems, we saw the autumn palette emerging and sketched fresh designs for tweed.
We also found ourselves captivated by the many animals that graced the land, including the earthy colours of a pheasant, which now has pride of place on a number of key pieces in our collection.
And it wasn’t just our prints that took inspiration from the lakes’ feathered residents — the coating of our Right as Rain range of waterproof coats and accessories was inspired by the feathers of a duck, which has an oily coating that keeps them waterproof and insulated from the cold. Like water off a duck’s back, as they say!
A design story with nostalgic inspiration
In the days before television and computers, bold and vibrant travel posters were one of the most effective ways of making the general public aware of new, exciting holiday destinations like the Lake District. Widely seen as art forms in themselves, these posters are now rare and highly collectable. From this, the bright idea to create our own posters to map our journey emerged.
Print designer Dan Matthews created the original designs and it was quickly decided they’d be perfect for a series of limited edition tea towels, mugs and scarves. Too good to leave it there, our in-house Illustrator got busy turning Dan’s designs into works that could be made into screen printed posters too.
It took a week to painstakingly print the images in a local print studio. It’s quite a process; coating silk screens with emulsion, treating them with UV light, mixing the colours, taping up screens, lining them up meticulously and hand printing each image.
Painstaking, but worth it every time.
This humbling expedition to one of Britain’s most beautiful spots proved why so many creative minds resided there, from Wainwright, to Wordsworth, to Beatrix Potter.
As founder Tom Joule says: “At Joules, we love getting outside, long walks, pub lunches, incredible scenery, putting our feet up in front of the fire, recounting the day, sharing photos of sunsets, starry skies and selfies that will live long in the memory.”
“We’ve enjoyed putting together this autumn/winter 2019 collection more than ever. The stunning location of the Lake District inspired a lot of the design elements and details you’ll find within the collection – warm padding, waterproof fabrics, rich textures, functional features and thoughtful details. It truly is a collection that’s perfect come rain or shine (and even cosying up in a cabin after a long day outdoors).”
You’ll find these prints and more making an appearance on our iconic styles and new lovable pieces in our autumn/winter ’19 collection, which is available both online and in-store now.
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