PETE CROMER

Tell us a bit about One Another?
Rick says: One Another is an ethical
homewares label with a collection of cushions,
throws and artworks that combine modern
designs with traditional artisan hand embroidery
and weaving. We like to think our products have
both style and substance as they provide an
independent income for women in poverty and
beautiful products for your home.
Tell us about yourself and your background?
Annette says: I studied Fashion Design and
have been fortunate enough to work for some
great Sydney labels as a designer, pattern
maker and Design Room Manager for the last
15 years.
Rick says: I studied advertising in Sydney
and worked as a graphic designer here before
embarking on traveling the world and ending
up in London for a stint. I really fell in love with
travelling and experiencing other cultures and
during this time my passion in photography
developed. I returned to Sydney and studied
photography before launching my own design
and photography business eight years ago
called Jimmy Too, named after my first SLR
camera.
What sparked you to create your business
– One Another?
Rick says: The idea for creating an ethical
homewares range came after trips to the
Philippines and India where I was photographing
women working their way out of poverty, for
not-for-profit Opportunity International Australia.
On these trips we meet many inspiring women
using amazing skills to support their families.
However as much as we loved the intricate and
colourful designs they created we felt they didn’t
translate to our home back here in Australia.
This sparked the idea to start our own label
with a vision to create a collection that brought
together their traditional artisan techniques with
a modern aesthetic.
Annette says:
Rick and I were always keen to pool our
combined talents into a project that would be
ours together. It was after travelling to India
that the seed was planted for what has grown
into One Another. It still took several years for
us to make it happen but we knew it would be
ethically made, that it would be working with
amazing artisans around the world and that it
would be a creative voice for us.
What processes are involved in
creating your pieces?
Rick says: We work directly with three groups
of women, the perfect hand embroidery is
stitched in India and the beautiful loop weaving
in South Africa and next season we will have
striking woven artworks from Rawanda. As
each design is done by hand, each is one of a
kind, it is these variations that are part of the
beauty and is what makes them so unique.
We use a fabric called Khadi, which is a hand
spun and hand woven cloth from India. It is
the fabric made famous by Ghandi and came
to symbolise India’s freedom from British
colonialism. The textural cushions from South
Africa are eco friendly and are woven from
t-shirt yarn, a by-product from the cotton mills
when make jersey t-shirts.
We think it’s really important for consumers to
know where products are made which is why all
our cushions have a label that is hand-signed by
the embroiderer or weaver who made it. For some
of the women it was quite difficult to do this as
they are not used to writing, let alone in English.
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Indigo Glaze cushion. Ceramic glaze print in indigo with overlapping
vessels hand embroidered in black. Price $119. Khadi Spot and
Dot Coral cushion. Hand loomed black and white spot khadi with
random hand embroidered dots in coral. Price $89.