And if you're not fluent in Italian (neither are we!) here is the interview in English:
Christina, what do you think makes C&R so special?
I think that C&R is special because of the extraordinary devotion of our staff, all of whom care about our product so much, and work hard to preserve the uniqueness of the brand. We are not like a large company where there is a formula and it is rolled out across many shops across the world. Even though we have three shops in Tokyo London
Out of curiosity, why did you decide to give this particular name to your company?
I started the company with a great friend,( in fact the mother of our longest serving member of staff, Violet Buchanan) and long before the company was invented, we were discussing our favourite flowers, hers were roses, mine, from the aspect of beauty - not taste - were cabbages. Thus the name was born! I had forgotten about this until Violet reminded me!
What would you consider to be the fundamental values that form the basis of your work?
Beauty, practicality, awareness of the environment, locality, uniqueness - all these things are important to me.
Talk to us a bit about your new collection of fabrics: the “Avery”. What was your inspiration during the design process?
We like to keep our collection fresh, and we also like to think that we can supply a fabric for every environment, from urban to country, from industrial to stately, from cottage to castle. The Avery range was developed to supply a calmer and more masculine take on furnishing fabric, but by altering the colourways, it can also be very feminine - the cheery rosy fabric Belmont is my favourite as it has a hearty and generous feel to it. Burley and Alderney are a perfect example of colour dictating the environment in which they will work best, from the sepia tones to the feminine pinks.
In your opinion, what is the essence of the vintage chic style?
The essence of Vintage Chic is its enduring and classic style - we have learnt that those things that have longevity are the things that people love and want to preserve, they are so loved and so preserved that they are also reproduced many many years after they were first invented. Unlike fashion, which is adored today and despised tomorrow, chic vintage artifacts are embraced by generation after generation!
Talk to us a bit about yourself. What’s a typical busy day for you? And what’s a normal day when you can enjoy a bit more free time?
My days are never really typical - for instance today, I am looking after my grand son and at the same time doing this interview with you!! Tomorrow I will be hiring a van in order to bring some furniture to our shop in London and collect some things from London to bring to Bath Somerset
Kilver Court
) where they are having an open day selling our fabrics and home products. Last week I was working on the colours for our knitwear for our autumn winter collection, and working on the display in our beautiful shop in Chelsea
What music do you listen to?
All sorts of music here is a selection from my i pod
Charles Trenet, The Bird and the Bee, The Cure, The Verve, Underworld, Verdi, Bizet, The Kinks, Gotan Project - all pretty eclectic!!
What’s the last book you read?
This is a little embarrassing - it is a book called COMPOST, and it is about compost and how to make it!! Before that I was reading Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman.
What’s your life’s motto?
NEVER NEVER NEVER GIVE UP!!
xxC&R
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5 comments
Great motto..
Julie x
Ho acquistato anch'io la rivista e l'intervista รจ molto bella!
Adorabili i tessuti e bellissimo il blog...complimenti!
Un abbraccio dall'Italia!
Anna
Ciao Anna, grazie!
Wonderful article! Thank you for sharing this. x
Love this magazine I got one when I was in Italy .
Can you order in the states? I will be back to your blog.
Laura
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