The feeling of creating a new collection is indescribable. Building a new world and seeing it come together is exciting but terrifying. In honour of launch day, we’re giving you an inside look into Luna's creation. Join senior designer Emma and me as we discuss the inspiration behind this collection and the process of bringing Luna to life.
So, everything has a beginning. Where would we say Luna began?
E: For me, Luna began while daydreaming. A severe lack of travels abroad made me nostalgic for holidays past. Years ago, I did a solo trip to South East Asia where I was able to indulge in my own desire to visit every textile market possible. Collecting fabrics and traditional crafts from every city I visited. The beauty in the hand-crafted textiles really feeds my soul. I also travelled to India many moons ago, where I was inspired by the sensory overload of colour and smells that makes you feel alive. Maximalist heaven, those markets really sucked me in. I definitely need all those bangles, yes please.
If Luna were a person, who would she be?
P: She reads books. She takes photos of her travels so she can capture the feeling she felt in the moment. She has handwritten her diary. She travels light. A lot of her clothes are thrifted finds that she’s seen and loved. She’s a humble, well-travelled collector and curator of crafts from around the world.
What’s your process for designing textiles, Emma?
E: It all starts with gathering inspiration. From that point, it’s down to the drawing. I tinker with new techniques to try and achieve each new design. It needs to have its’ own personality, so for each design, I draw completely new motifs. I draw for hours on end. This is the fun part. I turn off all notifications to delete any distractions and stay in the creative bubble for as long as possible. Then, it comes to figuring out the scale and troubleshooting the jigsaw puzzle to make it repeat seamlessly. After that, Pheebs and I look at colour to give it that signature Sage and Clare unexpected colour combination.
What was the inspiration behind Luna?
P: Luna is influenced by trips to Morocco, India and Spain. It’s a memoir of our travels and a tribute to traditional handicrafts, such as traditional batik and Ikat weaving.
We’ve made a lot of collections together. How do you overcome creative burnout, Emma?
E: Creative burnout is tough to overcome once you’re in the thick of it. I genuinely need a break after designing a collection. At that point, admin work and emails look quite enticing, but that doesn’t last long. Getting out into nature is my cure for burnout. Change the scenery, do something different. I mean, obviously, a holiday would do the trick. (Currently packing my bags for a sneaky trip to Indonesia).
How does Luna feel to you as a collection, Phoebe?
P: Luna feels golden and warm. As a collection, it's inviting, like sunset light through the windows and the early morning chirping of birds. It also feels magical, like twilight in the desert.
What’s your favourite design from Luna?
E: Charita. I really loved the imperfections of each motif created by the natural carved wooden stamps they use. I have tried to recreate that in the way I drew the flowers. I also added some dot elements to create a border to pay homage to traditional batik designs. Then, I played with colour to create a feeling of nostalgia but with a sophisticated edge. I love the dark base on the bedlinen; I think it creates a really warm and moody vibe.
What were some of the challenges we faced when designing this collection?
E: The biggest challenge we faced while designing Luna was splitting the collections up into chapters. For some inside intel, I can tell you that we design the collection as one giant collection. Once we start to see samples come in, Pheebs and I sit down to try to figure out how to create two distinct chapters. This is my least favourite part of the process. At this stage, we plan out the bed linen combinations for each scene and try to create unique and beautiful beds. As a maximalist, I really struggle with this, as I naturally want to have all the designs on one bed together.
What was the highlight of designing this collection?
E: For me, the highlight is seeing the beautiful photos that have come back from the photographer. Armelle Habib is the genius behind the camera who makes our Sage and Clare dreams come to life. It’s really satisfying to see the hard work of the whole team come to fruition. What you guys don’t see is the hard work and passion of the Sage and Clare team behind the scenes. Whether it be painstakingly steaming bedlinen, stuffing pillowcases, moving furniture, precariously hanging lights or packing the truck like a game of Tetris, the whole team goes above and beyond to achieve the beautiful imagery you see on our website.
Which Luna product will you be shopping for your home?
E: The Charita bedlinen. As I mentioned above, I love this design. It's my favourite design in this collection. It will suit my mid-century home perfectly—almost like I designed it that way…I think I will pair it back with the Alka-Reed pillowcases. I really love that bed from the shoot.