Sussex-based Bridgerton costume maker launches homeware range

Sussex-based Bridgerton costume maker Liz Poole has launched a beautiful range of homeware.
VELVET LINEN FOUNDER AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR LIZ POOLE: PHOTOGRAPHER HUGH THRELFALLVELVET LINEN FOUNDER AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR LIZ POOLE: PHOTOGRAPHER HUGH THRELFALL
VELVET LINEN FOUNDER AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR LIZ POOLE: PHOTOGRAPHER HUGH THRELFALL

Velvet Linen has been set up by Liz who has made costumes for Glyndebourne, The Royal Opera House, West End’s Hamilton and most recently for the Netflix show Bridgerton.

She is also the creative and development cutter for The Vampire’s Wife, a coveted fashion label based in Sussex founded by Susie Cave, wife of singer Nick Cave.

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Following the renovation of her Victorian railway cottage, Liz and her team were working on the finishing touches to her home and soon realised that the cushions, quilts and seat pads that were being created using the finest velvets and natural linens were gaining attention from family and friends alike who loved the element of ‘colour therapy’ and texture they added to the home.

They started to want to buy them for their own spaces. And so it was quite by chance that Velvet Linen was born in the summer of 2020.

It is now rapidly becoming a name to watch in the interiors world, offering an array of home accessories for lovers of the bold and beautiful or for those who have their keen eye on refined and elegant design.

Liz explains: “We began to develop new products, bringing together everything that had been magical about the mix and match details in my rooms, and gradually our Original Collection evolved. Full of ideas, this was shortly followed by The Natural Collection and The Flower Diary Collection. We mixed and matched different fabrics, sizes, finishes. It gave the newly finished building the most wonderful hug! The colours and textures were homely and elegant with a slight vintage feel as if maybe this is how the cottage had always been!”

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Liz has a studio in Ditchling, working with a team of makers and artisans, who produce costumes for musicals, theatre and opera including West End’s smash-hit Hamilton, Glyndebourne Opera in Sussex and The Royal Opera House. Liz has also worked her magic making costumes for the 2020 Netflix period drama sensation, Bridgerton.

“My team and I were asked to make some costumes for the first series of Netflix Bridgerton in the summer of 2019. They were to be made for the wonderful actress Nicola Coughlan, who would play the vastly-intelligent and sharp-witted Penelope Featherington. After several calls with assistant designer Sophie Canale I drove to the studio to meet the talented team including Bridgerton costume designer Ellen Mirojnick. I was shown some of the costumes that had already been made for extras and was given an overview of the show and an outline of the concept of how the costumes were to look. Using modern fabrics to make these regency costumes was another clever way of making this period drama contemporary and enticing a new younger audience. I left the meeting with five designs and an abundance of fabrics in order to start turning the concept into reality. We had two fittings with Nicola Coughlan, one at the very early stages of the making process and the second just as a check when they were nearly finished. I remember all of the women had corsets under their dresses and the man responsible for these was the fabulous Mr Pearl who would also attend the fittings with various members of the costume team.”

Liz added: “I have the most wonderful team at our workroom in Sussex who were already busy working away making costumes for Josie Lawrence for the Chichester Festival Theatre’s production of Oklahoma when I had also received a call from the incredibly talented costume designer Alice Babidge who was working on designing costumes for the 2021 Netflix film The Dig, Alice asked if we could make a stunning 1930s evening dress in peach lace which she was designing for lead actress Carey Mulligan.”

The full Velvet Linen range can be discovered at www.VelvetLinen.co.uk and an edit of the collection, plus some exclusive styles, can be bought at http://www.glyndebourneshop.com

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