BRAND NAME: Canvas+Sasson
DESIGNER: Sarah Quin
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN BUSINESS: 9 years
DESCRIBE CANVAS & SASSON IN 3 WORDS: Eclectic, Colourful and Inspired.
CANVAS & SASSON IS ALL ABOUT EMBRACING TEXTURE, PRINT AND COLOUR! HOW DO YOU FIND STAYING TRUE TO THIS ETHOS GOES WHEN TRENDS COME AND GO IN HOMEWARES E.G. MINIMALISM VS BOHO ETC?
Canvas+Sasson has a clear vision, in that we love travelling and exploring different cultures, to bring our customers an inspired mix of classic and bohemian homewares. We do look at trends in the fashion and interiors space, but we tend not to base collections around these trends - just take snippets of colour or techniques and play with those elements. We are definitely a very eclectic brand that offer classic and timeless styles to more bohemian looks. Essentially we just create pieces we love!
HOW DO YOU APPROACH EACH SEASON? DO YOU PICK A TRAVEL DESTINATION AND THINK ABOUT LOCAL CULTURAL DESIGN OR DO YOU LOOK AT BEST SELLERS AND HOW YOU COULD APPLY TEXTURES FROM THAT SEASON TO THE NEXT SEASON?
We approach each season with a plan, as well as working more organically. We always need to have a partial plan in place, so we know what areas we need to order for, what colour palettes we’re working towards and what techniques we’d like to utilise, but we try not to be too fixed in these ideas. We develop mood boards to also keep us focused as it is easy to go off on a crazy tangents!
C+S travel to India twice a year, as well as Europe, South America and other parts of Asia, and they always inspire us in unexpected ways. It’s so great being on the road and creating our designs based on things that give us hits of inspiration!
YOU RECENTLY JOINED FORCES WITH SASSON? SO NOW YOU OFFER THE FULL
EXPERIENCE. TEXTILES, SOFT FURNISHINGS AND FURNITURE. WHAT DROVE THIS
DECISION?
One of our driving forces behind the merge, was to create a full lifestyle brand that can offer everything for many interior styles. We can now bring our customers styles that go from start to finish in home decor - the bedlinen, the bedhead, bedside table and lamp that sits on it… And this also allows us to aim bigger and better with each season!
HOW DO YOU FIND THE MOVEMENT TOWARDS FAIR TRADE AND KNOWING WHERE PRODUCT IS MADE? IS THERE MUCH CLARITY OVER WHERE YOU CAN SOURCE YOUR DESIGNS WHEN YOU ARE ON THE GROUND IN INDIA ETC?
C+S have very strong relationships with our suppliers and we will not bring on a new supplier until we have visited their factories and are happy with their work practices, treatment of employees and philosophy in regards to environmental practices. We have a fantastic group of suppliers that we’ve been collaborating with for many years and they have become lovely friends who we enjoy seeing on our trips, hearing about which daughter is getting married next, who just had a baby and their life in India - so different to ours!
YOUR LATEST IMAGERY FOR YOUR CAMPAIGNS IS NEXT LEVEL! TELL US ABOUT YOUR COLLABORATION WITH YOUR STYLIST?
We really wanted to create an aspirational campaign this time around and we’re absolutely thrilled with the results! We had quite a few shoots in Sydney and Melbourne (lots of work, but great fun) and we teamed up with Stylist extraordinaire Heidi Albertiri of The Life Style Edit. She’s incredibly hard working and has a beautiful positive energy and we really loved working with her. We have just launched our Catalogue for 2017 / 2018 which you can view online, or request a hard copy and all our new campaign images can be seen in the gallery - some really amazing shots are there - even if we say so ourselves!
HOW HAVE YOU FOUND THE AUSTRALIAN RETAIL MARKET IN THE LAST 2 YEARS? WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING SHIFT FROM A BUSINESS POINT OF VIEW?
As we have a lot of retail customers, it is really interesting to hear all the mixed views on how they are going. I think the classic ‘bricks and mortar’ stores are having to re invent themselves and keep adapting as the online market has really changed the way customers shop. We still believe there is demand for both but it is pushing everyone to provide an exceptional experience as customers have greater choice in the market place.
HOW HAVE YOU FOUND INSTAGRAM IN TERMS OF PROMOTING YOUR BRAND?
Instagram is amazing! It’s definitely one of the best platforms for getting the brand out there, especially as we are such a ‘visual’ industry - it’s got a great reach, it’s a lovely, supportive community and it’s also a great way to keep in touch with what’s happening in the industry, in a really quick and accessible way!
WE LOVE THE NEW " CARAVANE" COLLECTION. THE COLOURS, THE TEXTURE, THE CRAZINESS! DESCRIBE HOW THIS COLLECTION CAME TO BE?
Oh we love this collection too! We had an idea to do this woven look in a more unexpected colour palette (not natural!) and our first thought was a sunset palette - blush, coral, apricot - but then it grew from there and we added in the sky blue and hints of charcoal. And following our C+S ethos of more is more, we then decided to get as textural as possible!!
Shop the incredible range of Canvas & Sasson here...