TOWARDS A GENTLER LIFE

I was in London for about 8 years this last time. I’ve lived there off and on since I graduated, and it’s a great, great city. Everything you could want is there: the best galleries and exhibitions, great restaurants, music, yoga - whatever your bag you can find it there. But it’s also vast, dirty, busy and frequently unfriendly.

I was finding it hard to breathe.

So starting elliot. wasn’t just about starting a brand, it was about creating a new way of life. I wanted out of the rat race and I wanted to take time over my work. To create something of quality that I could respect and value - and that hopefully other people would too.

So I think about every detail, every fabric now. I research where they come from and how they’re made. I make sure that what I’m doing is traceable and authentic and clean.

That’s the work side.

Personally, I’m trying to relearn how to live. I’m practicing how to make time for myself and my family (coming from a long line of workaholics, this doesn’t come easy!), to take time to rest, to get into nature, to breathe. You think these things will just happen - they don’t! It’s about looking at and changing your habits, one small step at a time. Sometimes it’s about choosing between what we need and we’d like.. because less really can be more.

I guess ultimately it’s about quality over quantity - and applying that essence to every aspect of our lives.

To paraphrase the Gentle Manifesto published in February’s edition of Monocle magazine, 

‘It’s about finding the places where the crowds thin and the paths narrow. Taking the scenic route to work. Drawing for pleasure again.

Finding the things we really like, the things we truly need, those moments from which we properly derive pleasure.

It’s about valuing constancy, consistency, solidity, fidelity and things that stand the test of time.

In fact, it’s about taking time, taking stock, taking a deep breath - and taking a detour. Every opportunity you get.’

Amen to that. Here’s to a new future.