Many would remember the high profile success of the Cavania brand in the early noughties when the husband and wife duo Karen Sanders and Christian Watters launched and developed their own breed of feminine vintage-esque cards, gifts and jewellery to the market.
After the couple moved to Australia (back to Christian’s homeland) in mid 2010 saw the brand fade in prominence in the UK, though it has been active in Oz in a number of ways.
Next month (January 2018) effectively marks a re-launch of Cavania in the UK and Europe, through a range of cards that is being published under licence by the Angela Faulkner Collection.
The new arrangement kicks off with 33 designs from Cavania’s Vintage Ages, Dimonte and Oh So Pretty ranges with some signature butterfly cards joining in May and others to follow twice yearly.
Angela Faulkner, the founder and designer behind the eponymous company told PG Buzz that she had always admired Karen’s feminine art style. Angela had been on a quest to find an artist whose work would sit alongside her own to further broaden the company’s appeal when the inspiration came: “Sometimes in life you get that light bulb moment! I thought to myself, “Well, I need an artist that is in a class of her own and Cavania is no longer in the shops. I wonder if Karen would consider licensing her designs to me so I can resurrect the Cavania brand.” After much detective work I managed to track her down and sent her an introductory email asking if she would be interested in an exclusive licence to reproduce her work. To my delight, she said yes!”
As to the advantages of the arrangement, Angela explained that Cavania and Angela Faulkner are both well recognised names in the industry and each will complement the other. “Customers will be able to order from both brands making it easy to achieve the minimum order value with free delivery, and they will also receive the yearly catalogue featuring products from both companies. Good news for our agents too!”.
A catch-up with Cavania…
Karen Sanders and Christian Watters co-founders of Cavania left UK shores for Oz in August 2010 to go and live in Christian’s homeland.
PG Buzz catches up with Christian to find out more about their life ‘down under’.
Is the start of Cavania’s licensing?
“No, we have had an ongoing licensing agreement with Trimcraft for the last 8-9 years, as well as with other companies.”
What else is keeping you busy?
“Currently we have three boutique cafes and a homewares store called Cavania in regional Geraldton WA. Our next venture is the opening of a flagship lifestyle store and cafe hybrid in April 2018 in a prime Perth (some 500km away). We are also working on franchising our cafe ‘The Jaffle Shack’ throughout the state.”
Karen always loved the jewellery side too, is that still twinkling?
“Karen set up a wholesale jewellery company at the start of 2017 and now wholesales across Australia with agents supplying many boutiques and chains. You can take the girl out of the city, but can’t take the city out of the girl!”
Do you have a card presence in Australia?
“Yes. McMillan Cards in Sydney has taken on Karen’s latest card designs and these are now being distributed around Australia.”
And what about Karen’s wall art?
“That is still going string. As well as focusing on her card designs Karen is also developing her original high end art with oceanscapes and sunsets on canvases.
* Take a look at Karen’s ongoing journey on Instagram @karencavania
