Interior Design

In Conversation With Gabby Deeming

This week we’re delighted to bring you not only an insight into the wonderful world of block printing courtesy of Gabby Deeming of Daydress, but also a chance to win a £200 Daydress gift voucher to choose your dream dress and a selection of Salvesen Graham new Limited Edition products including a signed copy of A New English Style: Timeless Interiors by Salvesen Graham.

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Chatting with the founder of Daydress

What is it about block print designs that you are especially drawn to?

As a process, it’s so simple and achieves such beautiful results. For me, block printing is the closest thing to hand painting a fabric, no two inches are ever the same. I love how many hands it takes to produce a print, from the block carver to the block printer and the colour mixer there is something really wonderful about all these people contributing with their craft to the final production. It is also amazing how little energy it takes to produce a block print, you can do it without electricity; you just need simple tools, the pigment and cloth. Everything is done by hand. Because of this, block print workshops are such peaceful places, all you hear is the thump-thump of the blocks going onto the cloth.

How does colour influence your dresses?

Colour is such a massive influence in my work. Much of the colour palette inspiration for the dresses comes from beautiful old antique textiles or paintings and they are always full of colour! Sometimes I try to do something a little bit more subdued, but it always gets thrown out along the way in favour of something brighter. Winter tends to be a little more sombre I suppose, but I still always find a way to bring in the brights, for example black is such a brilliant background colour for flowers in all the colours of the rainbow.

Tell us more about your life in Jaipur?

I am very lucky to spend six months of the year in Jaipur, so every autumn just as it's starting to get a bit chilly I board a plane and head off for the sunshine. We rent our own little house just outside the city, it's right in the jungle and surrounded by amazing animals and birds. It's a real privilege to have this experience and creates the most extraordinary work life situation. All of my Daydress production happens in Jaipur, from the block printing to the stitching and finishing and hand embroidery. When you can see the craft happening before your eyes and once you understand how it all works, it gives you a real respect for the craftsmen and women whose experience and skill make it all possible.

How does your career in interiors shape your approach to Daydress?

I think I have a funny habit of creating my collections a little bit like the way I might decorate a room, so even if I design 12 different dresses, I quite like them to complement each other, as if they were cushions lined up on a sofa! If I see a room I love, I’ll imagine what a person in that room might wear to look really fabulous. This is a really nice starting point for designing a dress, or a print; And it's a great excuse to spend a few hours just gazing at images of beautiful rooms that I love.

What do you enjoy working on the most for Daydress?

One of the wonderful things about running your own small business is that you get the opportunity to try a little bit of everything. Recently however as the business has grown I find it harder to spend time just sitting and drawing or designing.

This is probably my favourite bit, although having said that, the actual nuts and bolts of the business are really interesting and it's so wonderful to be able to respond to what the customers like and are enjoying through the designing proces.

What’s your favourite Salvesen Graham room?

Mary and Nicole are so clever when it comes to combining colour and pattern in a way that honours traditional decorating, but feels totally comfortable and contemporary. One of my favourites has to be that wonderful yellow utility room. First of all it's just such a brilliant commitment to the colour. And then there are the lovely touches in the undercounter curtain which is made out of tea towels stitched together along with remnants of a curtain fabric re-purposed from a four poster bed elsewhere in the house. Such a clever and unexpected combination.

Is there an aspect you refuse to compromise on when creating a new dress?

I think I drive the team in India crazy with my desire for everything to be perfect! Of course nothing is ever really perfect, but I really do try to pay attention to all the details which I think really matter in a dress, for example pattern matching, the finishing on the inside seams, beautiful quality fabric and I really do like to think that our block printing is some of the best that you will see on a garment.

What does the future hold for Daydress?

This spring we are launching a wonderful collaboration of dresses and homewares with the artist Caroline Kent of Scribble & Daub which has been an amazing experience, I love collaborations and really hope the future holds more of these for us, the idea that you are creating something that never would have existed how do you not put your heads together is such a wonderful feeling.