Our story with Sarah, our product designer and creative extraordinaire, starts way back in 2016. Or 2015, it feels so long ago that no-one can say for certain.
While in New Zealand with her now-husband, Sarah joined Wilson & Dorset. Amanda needed a smart all-rounder to help with the business, and with her creative brain and energy, Sarah fit the bill and then some. Together we got the first ever W&D retail store up and running.
That clever hiring decision turned into Amanda and Ben being witnesses at Sarah's wedding, right here in Dublin Bay, Wānaka, and the start of a life-long relationship.
When she eventually moved back to the UK in 2017, the first thing Sarah shipped home was her Shaggy Bean Bag. It wasn’t exactly the easiest luggage, but she wasn't leaving it behind. It's still in daily use, still getting well-loved by her whole family.
Sarah works remotely now, where her husband, two kids, and Pumpkin the dog, road-test everything she designs.
How she works
"My job is to see the product through from concept stage, all the way through from prototyping, to production, to launch," she says. This means a lot of testing. When she was working on the The Sheepskin Vest, she tested them by wearing them everywhere. Dog walks, the greenhouse, gardening, and wherever else the day took her. "It helps me understand the versatility of what we're designing," she says. There's no being precious around here, Sarah gets the products dirty and well-used before they get signed off.
What's in her house
There's that Shaggy Mount Gold Bean Bag that came back with them from New Zealand in 2017 and has been used daily since. "My kids come home and lie in it to regulate themselves after a busy day at nursery. The dog will spend her evenings in it. It's definitely a life-changing product," she says.
Then there are The Stone Sets in both kids' rooms, which live a double life. "We sit, we'll read books, we'll reconnect. During the day they'll get used as an assault course, being thrown at each other, and later used for enjoying a little bit of downtime." Design that survives children is possibly one of our best tests for how they’ll do in real life.
Where the ideas come from
Real people and nature are the themes of her inspiration. "In the UK we have such a hub of cultures and people," which means Sarah’s constantly seeing how different people live and decorate, not just one version of a home.
The other thing that gets her inspired is the landscape itself. Being around nature keeps what she's working with front of mind: "We work with a natural product, and we need to be responsible and sustainable, to continue to look after our earth."
For the love of wool
You can't really talk to Sarah for more than five minutes without wool coming up. "It's a real joy to work with a natural material that will biodegrade. I feel happy having it around my family and my dog," she says. "The wool speaks for itself. It's a hero material."
She's basically become an unofficial wool ambassador at this point, even noticing the difference between the UK and New Zealand: "Being in the UK we do have a history with wool and farming. But New Zealand has that everyday relationship with it. Everyone has a story; everyone knows someone in the farming industry."
It’s part of what makes her designs so special, they bring that connection into everyday life.
