Creating unique designs inspired by nature, travel and Japanese craft

Founded in 2019 by a print textile designer and expert in the Japanese art of shibori, Louise Wargnier, Tatie Lou's collections of wallpaper, textiles and accessories are inspired by the brilliance of Mother Nature, the magic of India and the beauty of ancient Japanese crafts. Created through a mixture of shibori dyeing, hand and digital drawing and painting, each signature print is digitised and transformed into a suite of different colourways before being applied to wallpapers, fabrics, cushions and lampshades, as well as blankets and table linens.

Here we chat with Louise about her journey into interiors and retail, her inspiration and the importance of sustainability.

Can you tell us about your journey and what has led you to start Tatie Lou?

From about six years of age, when my nan first taught me how to knit, I was always knitting or sewing something. As I got older, I would make things and sell them to my friends in the playground, mostly knitted snails or cushions with "I love you" written on them. Then, as I went into secondary school, it was apparent that I wanted to go into printed textiles as loved block and screen printing. I even created my own business name, "Zip off" - so 1980s!! This love for pattern and print continued as I went to study B(Des) Hons in Printed Textiles at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee and graduated in 1996.

After travelling the world for two years, gaining inspiration for my future design work, I set up an accessories business in early 2001 where I sold my handbag collections to shops in the UK and internationally. As a solo businesswoman in her mid 20s getting handbags manufactured in India way before online bank transfers, Google (the top search engine was Ask Jeeves), let's say it was very tough. I wasn't taken seriously, despite many attempts to go over to India and oversee production etc. I decided to hit it on the head for a while. It was character building and taught me some very good lessons in business.

Skip ahead a few years, I taught textiles to secondary school kids for several years and in 2013 and 2014 created my two best creations, my children Woody and Aggie. I started using indigo and shibori in 2015 to create patterns and wanted to create a duvet cover as I did not like any in the shops. As well as duvet covers, I started hand dyeing babies and children's clothes which sold well when I started my Etsy shop.

My Etsy shop grew and grew with my shibori creations and it wasn't until I was on a trip to Marrakesh in early 2019 that I decided I wanted to try my shibori designs on wallpaper. With a lot of research and hard work, I launched my first homeware collection at Top Drawer 2019 and the rest is history. Most of that time has been during the pandemic and various lockdowns, but Tatie Lou is growing gradually in the right direction.

Your design signature features influences from nature, India and Art Deco. How do these influences guide you through the design process?

I have always loved travel and India especially holds a special place very close to my heart. I am always drawn to the colour and pattern of this beautiful country. Mumbai has the second largest Art Deco building concentration in the world, so I loved bringing the Indian influence into some of my art deco designs. I have so many ornaments, books, fabrics and photographs that I have collected over the years from my visits to India. It is a natural reaction to draw inspiration from them somehow, even if the actual design is not an obvious representation of India in the end. I can't wait to go back!

I use a mixture of hand-drawn, painted images alongside digital drawings in my work. I also look to my shibori practice to create pattern ideas. I am currently working on a few designs that were created from sun dyeing during the first lockdown. My children and I had so much fun doing these as it was sunny. I don't have one type of technique as such. I like to explore different styles.

As demand for British made interiors products is increasing, how important are sustainability and UK manufacturing to you?

It is essential to try my utmost hardest to keep everything sustainable. Having a made-to-order model allows me to do this as there is no wastage. All my wallpapers, fabric, lampshades and cushions are printed and made sustainably in the UK. Even our cushion fillers are made from 100% traceable wool. The only product which is made overseas are the woven throws. However, these are woven from 90% recycled cotton.

What do you find most challenging while growing the Tatie Lou brand?

The biggest challenge has been launching in late 2019, and pretty much ever since the pandemic has been there, every event out there to promote Tatie Lou to the interiors world has been cancelled. I'm praying the Clerkenwell Design Week will go ahead this year..two years later, but better late than never, I suppose. Instagram is great to get your name out there, but it's not easy and takes up a lot of time. Now the world is opening up again, I hope to exhibit further afield too.

What are your plans for this year?

I am at present in the final stages of finishing my 4th Collection. I will be launching this at the Clerkenwell Design Week in May 2022. Fingers crossed! I hope to get some new stockists in the US soon, which is very exciting.

I loved collaborating with Bravery, the Australian scarf company, last year. Bravery gives a percentage of each of their sales to cancer research. I am always on the lookout for collaborations and would love to do more in 2022. So, if there are any companies out there looking to collaborate, please feel free to contact me.

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Website: tatielou.co.uk

IG: @tatieloudesigns

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