A Season to everything

A flowering tree with the most exceptional flowers grows in my garden. The stunning cotton roses of this tree, bloom and change colour from a creamy ivory to a bright pink within a day (24hrs) how extraordinary! ..then shrivel and fall off by the next day😑.

I find this akin to the creative process or may be just my creative process. I start off an idea excited, bursting with possibilities, feeling in control and it often then starts to take on its own form and sometimes the outcomes will be surprising even to me. The only exception thou is how I try to make pieces that will last and have meaning and be reliable…some what. Surely thou the cotton roses too have meaning, the beauty they bestow however brief, the narrative of how life is not just one thing and has various stages of growth, and the inevitability of change.

The process of making things has its troughs and peaks and it can be challenging lending grace to the down time of inspiration, we are so programmed to be busy and industrious every single moment of our lives and lately at an unrelenting  speed & cycle. This tree, this flower’s cycle is life itself, in its beauty and ugliness and death.  So … what does all this have to do with  elegant tops and dresses? not much, just the pleasure of bearing witness & sharing natures beauty, mystery and inspiration, to bloom and embrace change with grace …it is inevitable. 

The rhythm in patterns

I used to love working with printed and woven patterns, but haven’t worked with these textiles for some time, just hadn’t come across ones that... grabbed me. I had also frankly kept away intentionally, reason being how could I make a print I’ve bought from Lord knows how many meters roll and available throughout fabric stores worldwide… how can that be special or different. My absolute worst nightmare is making a stunning dress in a chosen print, and I run into the same print made into may be something else…cushions may be :/

So, the issue here is essentially control…I want to know that the 5 or 10 pieces I’ll make with that print are as exclusive. Until I happened to find myself in a space where I’m surrounded by nature constantly, where I’m seeing patterns everywhere around me, a reminder of how patterns are innate to African creative expression, likewise the realisation that control is an illusion! How these prints and patterns have been made into garments and enhanced and who will wear & embody them is what will set them apart.

In my most recent fabric trawls all I could see, all I’m currently falling for are prints and patterns, and that is very prominent in this drop of a handful of pieces.

I then also found this article  https://www.contemporary-african-art.com/african-patterns.htmlwhich and it made me feel like my sidestep into pattern isn’t misguided nostalgia, but it feels almost fated. The author of this linked article describes print & pattern inspiration in the most beautiful way: “I see pattern making in Africa as an innate thing, akin to rhythm” I mean! how poetic! totally in tune to the GoodFriday design journey, looking back to move forward fully aware of our rich creative history.

Marrying both my passions of textiles, music and a collective African cultural memory, sublime!

Good Things Take Time

Helloooo out there!!!! It’s taken a minute for us to get into this year. There’s been lots to tackle and I have realised I will need patience and stamina to forge ahead…and sadly in my grown age I am gradually losing patience, a virtue I used to count as one of my best. Age comes with a realisation of how everything is impermanent and how precious time is. What do these self indulgent musings have to do with a clothing design business, you may ask? My emphatic answer is …Time!!! Making special things needs, no demands! time. Time to think, time to trawl, time to immerse yourself in your craft, time to source textiles and trims, time to fall in love, time to obsess and then, time to make. No one ( myself included) needs to buy another shirt frankly, but there is always a craving for something different, something that enhances your personal style! Something you slip on and it just changes your mood, puts a pep in your step 😁. Making you feel elevated, other worldly even but yet still wearable and comfortable enough to tackle your everyday battles and victories unhindered (always wishing you all more victories!) . 

We are currently living with the abundance of everything, but often lacking finesse and care, time starved yet much so much excess with zero essence. I think this has made us all so much more discerning. We long to have experiences or pieces that are different, that feel personal with details that surprise and amuse us. We need, yes NEED pieces in our lives that make us…feel… 

We are committed to making garments with feeling … just allow time and patience, and on that note...

Check out our handful of new pieces, a stunning voluminous silk blend voile shirt to name one. The fabric is exceptional! Soft, but crisp, every fold and twist creating volume and dimension, with a hand pleated long elegant cuff detail. A distinctive piece that can be worn both formally and casually, under or over, tucked or let loose, giving a timeless statement every time it’s worn.