Last night was the opening reception for Fine Cell Work’s pop-up shop at 5 Grosvenor Street in Mayfair, central London. Warner Textile Archive join Fine Cell Work in the shop with their latest wallpaper releases including “Aquitaine” which is papered on one wall of the shop.
Fine Cell Work’s volunteers teach stitching skills in British Prisons. With the permission of each prisoner (who receives 30% of the profits), the outcome – cushions, quilts etc – are sold to the public. The shop is a stone’s throw from Bond Street, a quick canter from Piccadilly and a stroll from Oxford Street.
COVER attended the launch and your scribe’s photos follow:
Although the designs are often stitched in multiple versions, your scribe spied her favorite on a low shelf. A single, simple cushion stitched with a line from Johnny Cash’s first Billboard number one, “I walk the line”, released in 1956. Seems fitting. Like Fine Cell Work, Cash was familiar with the inside of prisons and jails although not in quite the same way as the Fine Cell Work volunteers. Get yourself down to the shop and buy! A good cause and beautiful handwork. DJ