Henries’ Best Young Designer winner is licensed for a great year
Stephanie Davies is topping an excellent year by having clinched her first licence, which sees her greeting card designs being translated on to giftwrap with Glick.
And it’s partly thanks to The Henries awards where she won The Lynn Tait Best Young Designer Or Artist 2023 trophy last October, having been one of the eight finalists in the same category the previous year.
“Glick md Becky Dobson contacted me after spotting my designs in The Henries finalist brochure,” York-based Stephanie, founder and designer of her eponymous company, told PG Buzz. “She got in touch and we started looking at my designs that would translate well onto gift wrap.
“I’d previously worked designing surface prints and had long dreamed of turning my greeting card paintings into patterns. Collaborating with Glick has been incredibly enjoyable, as it has enabled me to immerse myself in the creative process I love most.”
She added that Glick’s Becky and product manager Ruth Stockdale “have a real eye for what would work within their market” and made it feel “effortless and fun” to come up with a range of collections, with both sides having a keen eye for detail and loving including an element of luxury.
The launch range of everyday gift wrap, roll wrap, bags and tissue paper has four flora and fauna collections with rich autumnal colours and is available for pre-order through Glick with stock arriving from mid-July.
It was Home Counties retail group House of Cards’ co-owner Nigel Williamson who put Becky on to Stephanie’s trail while having a conversation at The Henries 2022 Awards event, as she explained: “I was on the way home afterwards and emailed her on the train after drooling over her designs in The Henries finalists’ brochure.”
It was the intricacy of her painting style, use of delicate foiling and “the jewel colours she uses” that caught Becky’s imagination, “which have the feel of hand finishing while still retaining full recyclability”.
And working together has been an “absolute joy”, Becky added: “Not only is Stephanie incredibly talented, she’s an all-round wonderful human too, and we’re really loving the partnership and work that’s being produced.”
Having shown at PG Live for the first time earlier this month where she had giftbag samples on display, Stephanie earned a Golden Ticket from Bentleys in Stourport for her cards, and she’s now getting ready for Harrogate Home & Gift, over 21-24 July, which is just as stock is due to land for the launch range.
Thoroughly enjoying receiving the high-quality samples through the post, there’s already a new Christmas collection in the works with Stephanie looking forward to starting another everyday collection for next year and she added: “I’m over the moon to work with Glick, they have been a dream to work with and really let me explore creatively.”
To celebrate the exciting launch of her everyday and Christmas giftwrap ranges with Glick, at Home & Gift Stephanie is launching a Print & Pattern greeting card collection “to mix and match for a perfect wrap and card combination”.
Taking inspiration from traditional English flora and fauna, the collection is full of gold decorative detailing, characterful wildlife and rich colour palettes, with Iconic sparked by a trip to London where Stephanie found “trends in bright and bold fruits”.
“The designs are a take on the classic prints from the arts and crafts movement but with a contemporary shift in bold colour and texture,” she revealed. The designs are meticulously hand-painted, drawn and collaged together and formed into repeated patterns, printed on to 300gsm luxury board and finished with gold foil.
The show will also see Stephanie launching her Heritage Christmas collection by the festivities in her home city of York: “I love exploring the streets to see all of the beautiful decorations added to the historical buildings and the English winter wildlife in the museum gardens.”
Stephanie Davies will be showing at Harrogate Home & Gift on stand DP4-56
