On my radar: Abask, your new design destination
Heads-up: there’s a fab new e-commerce platform getting a lot of attention right now.
As fashion and beauty online retail have become saturated, as well as an overall fatigue with trends in consuming, it makes sense that some are shifting interests to interiors, a somewhat slower pace of taste signalling – for now.
Abask is the brainchild of Matchesfashion co-founder Tom Chapman and former ecommerce director Nicolas Pickaerts. Its premise is room-themed edits of lovingly-crafted artisanal pieces – whether new, vintage or antique. I’m all about the Study*, where desk-destined Murano glass paperweights* sit alongside Carl Auböck brass knick-knacks* and exquisite vintage fountain pens*.
Heading up the buy is the brilliant Bryony Sheridan, former buying manager for Liberty home and interiors. (Remember my stationery post here?). Following in the footsteps of The Garnered, The New Craftsmen, and perhaps, CoutureLab before them, the site champions a thoughtful ethos of buying from the heart and the hand and pushing back against the flexing and fast flipping culture we’ve seen in fashion recently.
Crucially, storytelling content is a big part of the Abask sell. Videos, photography and interviews will help cement the value of products, an essential component when selling online. And of course, anything that invites us into the minds of creatives is a hit with me. Step this way for Creatives and Their Workspaces (below) and the shopping lists of stylish tastemakers…
WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: Abask; Gio Ponti
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14 November, 2022 @ 10:36 am
Yes, lovely things and we all love the celebration of craftsmanship but I am sorry, we are in the middle of a cost of living crisis with spending cuts threatened in the November Statement on Thursday. People are struggling to even eat and heat, so I am not entirely sure who this is targeted at with such ridiculous price points and why it’s being promoted.
14 November, 2022 @ 12:30 pm
Hi Sue, I take your points. Luxury at the top end is still doing fairly well and I would say Abask is aimed at that customer. Even if I’m not personally going to buy a £450 fountain pen, I will absolutely enjoy perusing the products and content. (However there are also quite a few lower priced items like papergoods in the offer.) These are forever items. You save up for them or you buy them knowing you’re going to keep them long term. As we know, handcrafted goods ARE expensive; I don’t begrudge paying somebody who has spent years honing a craft. I personally save money on things like alcohol so I can have a Carl Aubock brass egg paperweight; everybody’s different. I definitely advocate living within one’s means though :)