Why A Rum Fellow are an interiors brand to know
When it launched in 2013, A Rum Fellow was an online shop that sold an appealing hodge-podge of vintage pieces - from collected curios and Scandinavian furniture to the sort of framed artworks you might find at a good car-boot sale. It was all very of the moment. What was unusual, however, was the inclusion of vintage South American textiles. It turned out that this was the part of the business for which A Rum Fellow's founders, Caroline Lindsell and Dylan O'Shea, had their greatest passion.
The couple had worked in different fields before setting up the website. Caroline was a fashion designer and had spent time in the States, employed by brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch. Dylan, who has a degree in development studies, had worked for a UNESCO-affiliated charity called Education for All, during which he was involved in supplying used school furniture to facilities in developing countries. A three-month-long trip to Bolivia and Peru in 2012 sparked their love for the fabrics created by the indigenous communities they met. The colours were bright, the patterns dynamic and intricate.
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Within a year, the inherent limitations of dealing in anything vintage - namely the irregularity of supply and style - revealed the need for a new business model. One of A Rum Fellow's early clients was an interior designer wanting its fabric to cover a matching set of dining chairs. It was impossible to source enough vintage textiles to fulfil the order, so they asked the weavers they had met in Peru to make some to order. 'It was then that we decided to start designing our own fabrics and commissioning them to be made,' Dylan says.
'From an ethical standpoint it is good because it gives the weavers new work,' says Caroline. 'In some cases, it has kept the craft alive.' A Rum Fellow works closely with a Guatemalan social enterprise that runs sanitation and vocational projects. With the latter, it cuts out the 'middle men' who can get in the way of fair wages and ethical trade.
The fabrics are made in homes rather than mills, allowing the women who weave them to work around their lives; many are the heads of single-parent families thanks mainly to the country's long-standing political turmoil. Some of A Rum Fellow's flatweave fabrics are made in vetted mills in India, where the traditions and skills allow textiles to be woven on a wider loom.
A Rum Fellow's first range of commissioned textiles launched during Clerkenwell Design Week in 2014. The fabrics, in part based on the huipil (tunic) worn by women of the indigenous communities, were used to cover sofas and armchairs. A few months later, the company exhibited at Decorex, broadening its exposure to interior designers. And last September, at its third Decorex showing, it scooped the prize for best new product for its brocades. Although the studio is known for its busy and brilliantly hued fabrics, the palette of this latest collection is more subdued, with colours that do not pop so much as purr.
Caroline designs the fabric on a computer, dragging and dropping coloured shapes. Patterns involving zigs and zags, diamonds and fine black lines slowly emerge; it is like watching a mosaic being pieced together. Vintage samples, photographs and drawings of traditional textiles line the walls - the starting points for a new fabric design.
Today, A Rum Fellow textiles are used by some of the industry's leading names, including Kit Kemp and Suzy Hoodless. And Dylan and Caroline have been experimenting to see what else they can do with A Rum Fellow. There is now a range of rugs made by London-based Floor Story and furniture made to order by an Oxfordshire upholsterer. Lighting produced in collaboration with Copper & Silk is about to be released and the American textiles company Pollack has asked them to design some outdoor fabrics.
But, as A Rum Fellow evolves, its connection with the craftspeople producing so much of its work remains strong. Dylan recalls always wanting to run 'a creative business that has strong principles'. He and Caroline are managing to do just that.
A Rum Fellow: arumfellow.com
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Helen Cathcart2/6Details of 'Lempa Falseria' and 'Ocosito Falseria' cotton fabrics.
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Helen Cathcart4/6Details of 'Coyolate Brocade', handmade in Guatemala by Maya artists.
Helen Cathcart5/6The 'Arrington' sofa covered in 'Chixoy Brocade' and 'Vocan Ikat', atop the 'Kaya' hand-tufted rug.
Helen Cathcart6/6A vintage huipil lying on the 'Wawa' wool rug.
