Independent Designers and Shops We Love - Part One

If you follow Mille Saisons’ social media you may have noticed we’ve been posting about shopping independent this Christmas and to help you get started I’ve put together some of my favourite independent shops and brands to shop from. When I started making my list, I realised it become quite long rather quickly so I’ve split the list into two posts. This first one focuses on Etsy sellers, especially those I’ve met through the Brighton Etsy Team. Those marked with an asterisk will be at the Brighton Etsy Made Local market this Saturday. Details of the market will be at the bottom of the post.

First up is Wild Whiskers* run by my friend Lucy and this image is from her stand at Spirit of Christmas this year. She made some beautiful new products for the Spirit of Christmas fair which have been making their way into her Etsy shop. My current favourite is the new printed velvet cushion with a rabbit and dandelion which you can see in the lower right hand corner of the photo.

Next we have Claudia Made This*. Claudia makes me wish I was more adventurous in my jewellery choices but I wear the same necklace everyday (more on that in the next post!) and rotate through three or four pairs of earrings. All of the polymer clay is hand rolled by Claudia and you will find yourself wondering how she gets the beads so even. There are plenty of fantastic colour combinations and heaps of choice.

Jessie M sells handlettered prints and cards and is another lovely person based nearby. I love handlettering which I think may be because my own handwriting lacks style. Thankfully I can buy a card from Jessie to make up for it!

Another handletterer I love is Lola Hoad*, founder of One Girl Band and writer of the Shop Independent This Christmas graphic you may have already seen. I particularly agree with the sentiment on this Christmas card!

Designosaur* is another brand that makes me regret my monotone jewellery life choices as they sell some incredibly detailed laser cut acrylic jewellery. Thankfully there are other dinosaur themed products for me to buy and I’ve got my eye on this pin. Not only does Karli run Designosaur, she is also the Brighton Etsy Team Captain and she currently has awesome blue hair in case you needed another reason to buy from her.

Vicky is a team leader for the Brighton Etsy Team and runs Woah There Pickle* which sells amusing and quirky linocut prints. I agree wholeheartedly with this metallic foil print as I don't think any fashion designer wants to cut into a fabric and waste it while this cat print is adorable. We all know cats prefer the boxes which their new scratching post has come in instead of the actual scratching post!

Finally, Emma Warren sells embroidered accessories and clothing. I have had some pretty long term lust for this golden embroidered bee make up bag and all the other bee items actually. Emma may sell on Etsy, but like many of us, she sells on other platforms and you’ll find a larger range of her products on her ASOS Marketplace shop.