Gift Focus - Jul/Aug 2018 (Issue 108)

What made you decide to start up The Curious Department? Both Ross and I became homeowners a few years ago, and in the process of decorating and adding our own styles to our places, we realised there was such a gap in the market in interesting and curious homewares – affordable items that were not mass- produced beyond any semblance of being special. That’s when The Curious Department was born really, that moment when we sought to design and produce homewares that reflected our passions and personalities but could also be appreciated by the budget- conscious and interior Instagrammers alike. How would you describe your product offering? Nature-inspired homewares with a small dose of high drama. Everything is designed by us and made using British materials and expertise. Our first collection, Metamorphosis, was an exploration of insects and creepy crawlies, transforming them into objects of beauty with our fine bone china range and limited-edition art prints. Our second collection, Elemental, explores the relationship between flora and fauna and is seen on our greeting cards and stationery, where the creature cameos have been designed using elements from the background designs they sit on. What makes your products stand out in the home accessories market? We never set out to be part of any trend or design movement; we just design from our hearts and what we think looks good. And the true test is whether we’d have them in our home! So I think this naturally means our designs are a bit different to what’s out there already. But we also always have a little twist to make our designs memorable. What challenges have you overcome as a new business? As a passion business, we decided to fund it ourselves. We didn’t want to go down the route of investors or have anyone else be part of our journey just yet. It was key to us that it was a fun and enjoyable experience, and the pressures of owing money or having expectations just wasn’t for us. Once we released our first few parts of the Metamorphosis collection, we knew we needed the funds to expand. So we figured the best way to validate our designs with the masses, and not shoulder huge debts in upfront production costs, was to embark on a pre-order campaign using Kickstarter. This way, we used their huge platform to garner interest in the UK and worldwide and to see whether there were enough likeminded quirky and curious individuals who’d appreciate our designs and were willing to invite us into their homes! And it worked. We ended up doubling our target, generating nearly £10,000 in pre- orders in a month. How do you market your business? Do you attend any trade shows? So far we’ve only done Top Drawer and the London Stationery Show, which have been great for us, and we’ve picked up some fantastic stockists. But I’d say our No. 1 marketing tool is Instagram. We worked with influencers and bloggers from day one – our first blog feature was with the iconic Kate Watson-Smyth, who is now a best-selling author – and it’s been a great and authentic way of building interest, as well as a network of some amazingly talented people who’ve ended up becoming firm friends. You were recently one of 12 winners at the London Stationery Show LaunchPad competition – please tell us a bit about that. Our stationery range is only a few months old and pretty small in comparison to many of the other applicants, so we really didn’t think we’d get selected. Needless to say, we were overjoyed to have made the final 12! The show itself was great, and we had the pleasure of sharing a corner with Type And Story, Batch Works and High Meadows Stationery, who are hugely talented guys all around! Are there any plans to evolve your product offering? We spend every waking hour dreaming up designs and product extensions. There’s just never enough time in the day! We’re currently juggling the imminent launch of our new luxury cushion collection with an exciting jewellery collaboration. We’ve looked into fabrics, wallpapers and lampshades and other home interior staples too, and if someone were able to clone us to help get it all done, that would be super great! What has been the highlight moment for the business so far? It’s been such a fantastic ride these past 18 months. I’d say the highlight is seeing our designs styled and coveted by real customers on Instagram every day. It’s such an amazing feeling to see that we achieved what we set out to do: to provide homewares people actually want and love. What are your hopes for the future? We’d absolutely love to open up our own physical store one day, mixing our own curious items with a hand-picked range of other homewares from upcoming British talent. The first 18 months of business have been a whirlwind of success for The Curious Department co-founder Chris McShane objects of beauty co-founders Chris McShane (left) and Ross Taylor (right) For more information, email wtf@thecuriousdepartment.com or visit thecuriousdepartment.com 154 giftfocus