This December Mary Ward House in central London will be transformed into a textile capital for one day only, as the Selvedge Winter Fair gets underway. One of our exhibitors, Graham & Green, is a family-run business supplying beautiful and unique products inspired by travels around the globe. As "lifestyle merchandisers", Graham & Green reject a company ethos based simply around turning a profit and instead seek to unite customers with unique items that tell a story.

It all started with one woman’s trip to India all the way back in 1974.

Antonia Graham was inspired by the beautiful artisan products she encountered on her travels and decided to create her own independent lifestyle brand - at a time when nobody really knew what a lifestyle brand was. Antonia's company imported exotic home wares from India, Morocco and Europe to the UK.

The same year, she opened the first Graham & Green shop in Notting Hill, London, which still exists and houses exotic and beautiful items from the four corners of the globe. Graham & Green's second independent store opened ten years later in Primrose Hill, London and continues to operate in this vibrant area.

After graduating from university,  Antonia's son Jamie joined Graham & Green, making the company truly a family affair. Using his eye for design and experience growing up surrounded by unusual home wares, he began working closely with international suppliers to design and make unique furniture collections, something which he is still doing today. In 2011, when Antonia decided to retire, Jamie and his wife Lou took over directing Graham & Green, continuing Antonia's 37-year long legacy. Under their directorship, the company's flagship shop opened in Bayswater, designed to showcase a growing collection of home wares that continue to reflect Antonia's original aesthetic.

Graham & Green will be exhibiting at the Selvedge Winter Fair on 1 December 2018. To find out more about the event and to book your ticket, click here. You can get 2 for 1 tickets with the code FAIR2FOR1. 

Blog post by Jessica Edney