‘We began Slow and Sow a day into lockdown, dyeing with plants and stitching away on the Sussex coast while the world ground to a halt. The initial making process was a way to channel those feelings of uncertainty unravelling around us, but the desire to create a brand with my mum – who has been a maker for many years – has always been a dream.’
Slow and Sow is a hand-crafted, mother-daughter accessories label, founded by me and my mum Lizz. We are natural dyers working by the sea, making small batch, Earth-friendly pieces to be worn, re-worn and cherished forever. Working with what we can harvest sustainably in the undergrowth, and using offcuts and natural fibres, we slowly steep fabric, plants and natural pigments together in our dye baths to create a never-ending spectrum of colours as the seasons change.
It was a progression of many things that came together very serendipitously. We began Slow and Sow a day into lockdown, dyeing with plants and stitching away on the Sussex coast while the world ground to a halt. The initial making process was a way to channel those feelings of uncertainty unravelling around us, but the desire to create a brand with my mum – who has been a maker for many years – has always been a dream. Since then, everything has slowly evolved, at first I was selling to friends via Instagram but now we have a website and are also stocked in InNEOSS and Zero-Living in London, and Shop Ergo in LA.
Slow and Sow has given us grounding, confidence, and a positive challenge, something to keep working towards when times have been difficult.
It was in response to a conversation with my grandma. She was worried about the prospect of not seeing the hairdresser for months if she had to shield, and asked me where I found bandanas or scarves. I tend to find these on holiday or in vintage stores, so thought I’d try making some myself.
I’ve always loved utility and function in design, and am very inspired by workwear and by items that are useful but also make you feel comfortable, wherever you are and however you feel. I think a scarf is practical, versatile and also very beautiful. You can wear them in so many ways, even different ways throughout the day. Seeing how Slow and Sow holds up to different needs and occasions through our customers and community is such a joy!
The natural dye process is very meditative and intuitive. Once we have gathered flowers or picked pigments for the dye bath, we relinquish the final results to nature; there are so many factors that can change and produce what comes out.
We don’t have complete control, because it is all down to the plants, and we see this as a magical and intrinsic part of what we do – you never really know what you will get! From a business perspective, it can sometimes be a challenge, we can’t promise exact colour swatches for collaborations or custom orders, all we can do is share our practice and hope that others trust in the process as much as we do.
Nature is very much at the heart of what we do – we want to work with, not take from the natural world. Everything comes back to the earth and our Earth. We have moved so far away from nature, and to be able to reconnect and understand the power of plants and their properties, even on a small scale, has been as inspiring as it is humbling.
We love how our silk scarves are made using nature but also reflect nature on a micro and macro scale through the patterns created in the dye bath – from how a petal or stem pressed onto one of our bandanas leaves a mark to how the scarves look like different terrains and elements from an aerial, birds-eye-view perspective.
I love old photographs; both found and archival. I am a big collector of reference imagery, and love exploring material and visual cultures. For the campaign I was inspired by images of female artists I love: Barbara Hepworth, Lee Miller, Homai Vyarawalla, Dorothea Lange, Ruth Asawa, Georgia O'Keefe, Nina Simone, and of unknown women at work, from Japanese Ama divers to women gathering driftwood on the North Yorkshire coast.
We worked with friend and photographer Hermione Russell on the campaign and from the first conversation she was very much on the same wavelength with our ideas, and she really understood Slow and Sow from the beginning. I wanted to tie in family and the outdoors into the shoot, and luckily Hermione was living down the road from her mum and sisters, who have an allotment. Hermione developed most of the campaign in her own dark room. The whole experience was wonderful and came together so naturally.
I think it is deeply irresponsible to enter into any industry that creates products without considering the impact they have on our planet. Anything that works against nature when we are seeing the destructive impact of man-made climate change is incomprehensible, but the way the world is structured also means there are still so many mountains to climb ethically and sustainably. We are doing our bit as much as we can, from harvesting responsibly to recycled and plantable tags, and are continuing to make steps to improve. I think there are so many ways to be 'ethical', we need to keep reassessing as individuals what this can mean to make the world a better place - for example, we recently did a raffle to raise money for Creative Dignity, a charity who are working on Covid relief for artisans across India.
It’s been hard learning as we go along, not necessarily knowing the jargon or ‘rules’ of starting and running a brand. However, I think the best way to learn is slowly but surely. Reaching out to other small brands and asking for advice has been helpful, you can build a lovely community sharing knowledge with one another. It’s nice to remember you’re not alone and there are other makers out there who are in the same position, so reach out and meet when you can and be allies to others who inspire you.
Oh there’s so many, and I’ve mostly discovered these over the years on the More This directory. Babaa is a staple, and mum and I love &Daughter, Justine Tabak and Bug Clothing to name a few. We love scouring antique markets and vintage stores, it is one of our favourite things to do together. I especially love Noble Daughters and Narrations for vintage clothing, and Eesome for smaller vintage homewares. For Christmas, mum got me one of Georgia Borrett Lynch’s beautiful hand woven bags, made from old sailing ropes that I wear every day, definitely check out her work.
Thanks to Charlotte for those beautiful answers, you can check out Slow and Sow here
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