{"id":16,"date":"2014-02-01T20:39:06","date_gmt":"2014-02-01T20:39:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blakejamesdesigns.com\/?page_id=16"},"modified":"2014-02-01T20:39:06","modified_gmt":"2014-02-01T20:39:06","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.blakejamesdesigns.com\/?page_id=16","title":{"rendered":"About us"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beautiful handmade fabric homewares and accessories that weave English and Middle Eastern heritage into the desi<\/em><\/strong>g<\/strong><\/em>ns.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

As a newcomer to Kuwait, it\u2019s very easy to assume there\u2019s not much more to the place than fast food outlets and even faster cars. So, having lived in Yemen, Zimbabwe and Sudan between us, arriving in Kuwait was a bit of cultural shock.<\/p>\n

But dig a little deeper and Kuwait, like all of these places, starts to reveal her lesser-known gems \u2013 especially for us womenfolk: Bedu weaving, a rich culture of ornately embroidered gowns, and a material souk that can only be described as eye candy extraordinaire. And that\u2019s only the beginning\u2026<\/p>\n

As wives of diplomats we have transient lives, gleaning experiences \u2013 sometimes cultural, sometimes just plain mad \u2013 as we go. It\u2019s one of the best things about the slightly peculiar, disjointed life that we lead. One thing was certain about Kuwait: a glut of KFC and golden arches wasn\u2019t going to put us off our stride.<\/p>\n

And so Blake James Designs was conceived, by a pool, desperately seeking respite from the scorching summer sun, on a 52\u02daC morning at the end of June 2012. Between juggling (melting) armbands, (melting down) children and (molten) chocolate biscuits, we decided it was high time to embrace the other side of Kuwait, whilst putting into practice some of our long held personal aspirations. Bridget started her career as a teacher, and following on from having four children, had an \u2018itch\u2019 to become a product designer. Whereas SJ has worked in senior roles in a number of small businesses since quitting her job as a management consultant, but never started one, despite hankering after doing so. Blake James Designs had just begun.<\/p>\n

There wasn\u2019t much need for discussion about what we were all about, what we would do, and what we would make. It seemed obvious from the outset. We would take Kuwait\u2019s rich textile, embroidery and weaving culture, draw on our English heritage and weave it into that of the Middle East to make useful, hardwearing \u2013 and beautiful \u2013 fabric homewares and accessories.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an expression in Arabic \u2018cul shay mumkin\u2019 \u2013 everything is possible \u2013 and indeed it is. Blake James Designs has become a reality, not just soon-forgotten idle chat. Moreover it\u2019s taken us on an delightful and often extraordinary journey that has included drinking sweet tea with Bedu weavers over a loom strung with camel\u2019s wool; interviewing seamstresses in the supermarket washing powder aisle; braving hair raising Kuwaiti driving to seek out Kuwaiti museums, icons and culture for inspiration; regular forays into the depths of the fabric souk \u2013 attracting many a curious audience along the way; and finally, stitching and cutting into the wee small hours.<\/p>\n

We hope you enjoy looking at what we\u2019ve been up to \u2013 get\u00a0in touch<\/a>\u00a0to give us your feedback or share any thoughts.<\/p>\n

Bridget & SJ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beautiful handmade fabric homewares and accessories that weave English and Middle Eastern heritage into the designs. As a newcomer to Kuwait, it\u2019s very easy to assume there\u2019s not much more to the place than fast food outlets and even faster cars. So, having lived in Yemen, Zimbabwe and Sudan between us, arriving in Kuwait was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-16","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blakejamesdesigns.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blakejamesdesigns.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blakejamesdesigns.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blakejamesdesigns.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blakejamesdesigns.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.blakejamesdesigns.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.blakejamesdesigns.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16\/revisions\/17"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blakejamesdesigns.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}