Hello, this is my first ever Etsy shop, so I’m quite excited as Its been a long time coming.
Sidekick has been going since ever since 2002, long before social media really kicked off. I primarily started the business as menswear, making trousers for an independent clothing shop, following this I decided to try wholesale and had some trousers made, (quite a lot) but that didn’t workout so I started to diversify making shirts out of vintage fabric to go with the trousers and when the fabric became too hard to source I started drawing my designs and putting them on to silk screens so that I could print the fabric myself, and this gave me enormous pleasure cutting out and making up each shirt, the end result is very rewarding.
In 2006 I found myself a wonderful waterside studio and built a shop at the front. A new eco building powered by wind turbines and working alongside fellow makers. I was so inspired to be around so many people but in my own studio that I’ve stayed ever since.
Having the shop has been great, to be able to test things out. I trade also at a couple of festivals in the summer, End Of The Road festival in Dorset is a favourite with me and this year I will be trading at Twinwood vintage festival for the first time which Im very excited about, especially as I have a passion for dancing and all my friends are going (hehe)
It took a while to become established at the Wharf, I soon realised that I needed to diversify and include womenswear, so started to do a lot of bespoke, this didn’t work well for me so I tried ‘off the peg’ and this has remained throughout. My styles have evolved over the years particularly since starting dance classes 4 years ago and so now my designs are leaning towards workwear and clothes that make you feel jolly and be yourself as I think this is the way forward.
As well as dancing, my greater source of inspiration comes from nature, I live on my land with a footpath running through the middle and enjoy being outdoors, a lot of my print designs are based on animals, fruits, trees and shape. I love nice bright colours and good fabric, most of which I source from Ireland on an annual fabric mission straight from the mill, there’s so much choice and such texture. Usually there are some huge boxes full of short length sample pieces, these are good for creating really individual pieces.
Finally I hope you enjoy browsing!