One We Made Earlier make contemporary accessories. Based in London, husband and wife team Emma and Rob Orchardson draw on their backgrounds in fine art and design to create bold statement pieces. Their work combines a playful sense of fun, with a striking geometric simplicity.
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Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do. We are Rob and Emma Orchardson and One We Made Earlier is a collaborative project drawing together interests and inspirations we have in common. Rob is from Scotland and I am from Northern Ireland—we live with our young family in South East London.
We design contemporary accessories—a range of bold, statement pieces. Our work combines a playful sense of fun, with a striking geometric simplicity.
What are some recent, upcoming or current projects you are working on? We recently collaborated with the London-based gift subscription company Not Another Bill. Customers subscribe to receive a monthly gift which reflects their interests. We designed a bespoke necklace for them. It was minimal and wearable and it went down well with it’s receivers!
We are also currently growing our range of stockists both here in London and internationally.
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How did your interest in art or fashion begin? We’ve both always been interested in making things. We met at art college in Dundee in Scotland where Rob studied fine art and I studied textiles. We both moved to London to do postgraduate studies at Goldsmiths college, University of London. Rob also works as a contemporary artist and I run One We Made Earlier in the day to day. We have been working on One We Made Earlier together since 2012.
If you had to explain your work or brand to a stranger, what would you say? One We Made Earlier make a range of necklaces which is aimed at a customer who likes minimal dressing with a bold statement accessory. Our accessories are playful and colourful and are both fun pieces to wear and also enjoyable to see hanging on a hook on a wall at home! Our packaging is a simple kraft tube with our logo—a step away from traditional jewelry packaging.
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What materials do you use in your work and what is your process like? All of our necklaces have the core materials of cord (currently black, red or blue), wooden balls and a white resin ball. Each design is then made from a variety of other materials such as brass, cork, perspex or a material we have used a lot lately called Corian. Corian is mainly used for making kitchen countertops, but we slice it up into various geometric shapes and sand it by hand to form bold and striking compositions. Our necklaces involve a lot of drilling and hand finishing, so are quite labour intensive to produce. We produce the necklaces ourselves in our South London studio and at our home.
What’s your favorite thing about your city? We love the fact that even though we have lived here for over ten years, there are still many new areas to discover and new places to inspire. We love the variety of people here and the wide range of things people do which makes it a rich and constantly inspiring place to live. There is so much to see and do, but you can also find inspiration by simply walking through an area of the city and discovering boutiques or interesting galleries off the beaten track. Follow our Instagram account for our daily inspirations. @onewemadeearlier
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What was the last collection you saw that stuck out to you? We regularly visit exhibitions in London…some that have been memorable lately have been the Malevich exhibition at Tate Modern, a show of drawings by Russian Constructivist Designers at the V&A and today we saw amazing sculptures by Phillip King at Tate Britain. We love having so many options of galleries both big and small on our doorstep!
In the world of fashion, I love the work of Roksanda Ilincic.
What is your snack/beverage of choice when working in your studio?
Rob – good coffee and croissants.
Emma – Earl grey tea and any cake.
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What are you really excited about right now? We are excited about designing a new collection in the new year. Investigating new materials and perhaps even a new product! Watch this space! We will be exhibiting at DesignJunction again in September 2015 as part of the London Design festival.
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