The Port Eliot Festival is a wonderful event that takes place on the magical Port Eliot Estate in South East Cornwall. It was the very first UK Festival I went to back in 2006, and anyone who loves music, creativity, books, and ideas will love it.
A couple of weeks ago I spoiled myself with a day out to the fabulous Port Eliot Festival, held at the magnificent Port Eliot estate in St Germans, Cornwall. It went a bit Glasto last year and had a year’s hiatus, but it was back with a bang this year. Billed as “an annual celebration of words, music, imagination, ideas, nature, food, fashion, flowers, laughter, exploration and fun”, it is a four-day extravaganza of performance and celebration (with the option to camp on site) on one of Cornwall’s most stunning private estates.
I was keen to go for lots of reasons (an indulgent day on my own being the main one), but there were a couple in particular. My friend Sian from Lancaster & Cornish was holding a “knicker-making workshop” in the Wardrobe Department and I was keen to see her (you can read her blog about Port Eliot here) but Anthropologie was also putting on creative workshops featuring amazing makers and designers, one of whom is my favourite textiles artist, Mister Finch.
Mister Finch is described as “a textile artist who lives in a fairytale world”, and is known for his incredibly life-like replicas of creatures from the natural world – spiders, moths, birds etc – all made from “found” textiles, such as tea-stained table cloths.
So I drove down on Sunday morning, hoping to get into the Mister Finch workshop to find that people who had camped had been queuing since 7:30am to attend the workshop. Given that gates didn’t open for those of us with day tickets until minutes before the workshop did, and knowing that you, dear reader, were desperate to hear all about it from me, I luckily managed to convince the lovely Anthropologie team to let me in and just as well, it was fabulous! I know that it’s deviating a bit from the topic of independent retail but it fits with the brief of supporting independent designers so stay with me.
Anthropologie is the master of retail merchandising and the marquee was in no way disappointing. Magnificent designs graced the ceiling and the walls were festooned with greenery and mirrors. And then there were some of the magical creatures that Mister Finch makes – a life-like mouse, a moth made from carpet he found in a skip, and a model of the “bulb” that we were to replicate.
The Anthropologie Marquee at Port Eliot 2014
The model for the “bulb” sewing project
Mister Finch’s huge Carpet-Winged Moth
So Finch (who was utterly charming), introduced himself and we began the process of stitching together a Spring bulb, with his guidance.
The sewing instructions and calico cut-out
Mr Finch introducing himself and the project
The project begins to take shape
To be honest, there was too much chatting and not enough sewing, but we all got there, including the very sweet girls from Anthro who eventually got into the swing of it. But a rather extraordinary thing happened. As I was taking some pics for this blog, I glanced over to see Finch standing over a very studious-looking woman who was stitching enthusiastically. I remarked to the Anthro girls that it was an amazing sight, those lucky few of us in the tent with Finch, and one of the most well-known, well-respected international fashion journalists quietly going about her business, making her bulb, completely anonymously. They looked at me blankly. “Suzy Menkes“, I said, “you know, THE Suzy Menkes?”. More blank expressions. I’d read Suzy Menkes’s columns in the International Herald Tribune from when I was old enough to shave my legs, and so it took a random Australian woman to make the connection in this amazing moment in time. Cue much fuss and photo-taking, but the beautiful thing was that Finch had no idea who she was either, not that it would have made any difference, he is a proper Northern bloke who’s not going to treat anyone differently just because they’re a celeb.
Finch observing Suzy’s stitching
Finch and THE Suzy Menkes
After the bulbs were made and the scissors, cotton thread and kapok stuffing were put away, Suzy came and introduced herself and told Finch and me that up until the age of 17, all of her clothes were hand-made, and that this was the first time in ages that she’d actually sewn something, and how wonderful and experience it had been for her. You can read her review of the Festival for British Vogue here.
Finch, Suzy, her bulb and unmistakable custom-designed phone case!
When Finch met Suzy
Mister Finch is an amazing example of an artist who makes work that is not only very beautiful but very commercially viable. His creations are loved and admired internationally and no wonder. This was his first workshop and with his book launch happening later this year, we should be seeing a lot more of him. For me, it was a delight to chat with him about the Festival, his first experience of being in Cornwall and just why people love his work so much. But to be very honest, it was just so lovely to meet him, tell him how much I love his work and what an inspiration he’s been. Hopefully our paths will cross again one day.
When Finch met Shopindy Sal
There’s so much more to tell you about my Port Eliot 2014 journey. I still need to tell you the the story of how I helped the Lancaster and Cornish girls get their knickers untwisted and met another international fashion icon in the process. And some other snippets from the Festival extravaganza, so stay tuned for more Port Eliot gossip! And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
© Sally Bell 2015
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