Jan Constantine has an international reputation for her very British cushions, and it all happens from a tiny village in Cheshire.
I hope Jan will forgive my crowning her Queen of Cushions. She actually does so much more, but it’s her cushions I first fell in love with, finally throwing myself at a glorious Jubilee cushion last summer which now has pride of place on a 1960s chair on my landing, where I have to stop myself from patting it every time I pass. It’s fat and it’s luscious and so very beautifully hand-embroidered it’s positively a work of art.
Jan grew up in (say it quietly) Lancashire, but headed to London at the age of 21 to start what would become a rather illustrious career in fashion design.
“I went to London to take up a position as a junior designer for a high-end bespoke fashion brand,” Jan explains. “Over the years I progressed to head designer and then design director, but I just wanted to do interiors. My husband and I also wanted to move out of London.
“On a trip up to Lancashire we visited my sister and her husband, who had a farm in Shavington. We saw an old Georgian house with roses around the door for sale, in the nearby quintessentially English village of Betley, advertised in the local newspaper. We thought the village was beautiful and despite the run-down state of the house, we loved it and bought it at auction the very next week. Its location just 15 minutes from the train station meant I could commute to my fashion job in London for 18 months while I reorganised my life. A renovation project and two daughters later we were settled and have lived here happily since.
“Once I moved permanently to Cheshire I started a company doing painted furniture, and murals, which I did for a while, but I kept thinking, ‘I need a product.’ I love textiles, and specifically embroidery. I used to put a lot of embroidery on the garments I used to have made in London.
“So I thought, ‘right, I’m going to do this, I’m going to do a collection of homewares, with embroidery on them.’ I started off with a collection of lavender bags and lavender hearts, all from my kitchen table, but soon realised this wasn’t going to get any bigger; it was just me and a couple of friends helping. I needed to go somewhere where I could find people to do the embroidery.”
Sadly, the art of embroidery seems to have been lost in the UK. These days it’s very much a hobby, with the days long past when women (and men) would have this as their profession. Jan therefore headed to a country where embroidery – the art of applying decorative designs to fabric using a needle to apply thread or yarn – is still a recognised and revered profession, India.
“I visited five different artisan workshops to select the one I wanted to work with – and we’re now celebrating 21 years in partnership. We’ve developed a process that works for us and have developed a very close relationship. I and keep a stock of all the fabrics and colours I work with at the workshops in India; quite a lot of colours, actually, in wools and velvets. When developing a new collection, I draw it all here, in Cheshire, define all the colours I want to use and Sharon, who owns the factory, personally makes me a sample. We work very closely together; we speak every day and with things like WhatsApp and video calling it makes life so much easier. When we’re working on new samples, I can see it as it’s happening. I can see the stitches as they’re being done and change them or change the colours if it’s not looking quite right.”
Jan has exclusive collections in Harrods, Liberty London and Fortnum & Mason, the triumvirate of London’s most high-end heritage stores.
“We make a Christmas collection for Harrods, Liberty and Fortnum & Mason,” she says, “and of course when anything very special happens, such as the upcoming Coronation, we do special designs then too. We also have relationships with some small, niche stores across Europe, the USA and Australia.”
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 must have been an exciting time for Jan, one that she was able to plan for comfortably in advance, unlike the Coronation of 2023.
“What a year!” Jan exclaims. “Yes, I knew the Jubilee year would be a busy one and we were able to get designs together for my own website and for Harrods, for example. When Queen Elizabeth died it really did knock the wind out of me. I went to London and queued to see her lying in state. That was an extraordinary experience; first the incredible queue, and then entering Westminster Hall. The atmosphere in there was almost indescribable, just a huge sense of love.”
“After this it wasn’t long before they announced the date for the Coronation, and I thought oh my gosh, I’d better get going!”
Fascinatingly, Jan saw a sudden upsurge in her Jubilee collection following the death of Her Majesty, as people sought special reminders of this incredible year. Soon after, at a meeting with Harrods to discuss their Christmas collection, questions were asked about what she would be providing for the Coronation.
“My Coronation designs are very much informed by the Jubilee collection,” she says. “I have also added duck egg blue to the range, this time, which has already proven very popular. I thought perhaps this would appeal to people wanting lighter tones, rather than the bold colours of my previous royal celebration range.
“We delivered the first order to Harrods in January, and they came back a month later asking for more stock – and they want loads of duck egg blue! Funnily, they also want a range of Coronation Christmas stockings. I was a bit puzzled, but then they explained that overseas tourists here in the summer are often seeking Christmas gifts, and the stockings are always a very popular choice.
“I can usually turn things around very quickly, but we’re going like the clappers at the moment.”
Since the announcement of the Coronation, Jan has been focusing very much on this collection, delaying the completion of her designs and production of her next planned project, a Love & Peace collection.
“I actually started this last year, but it’s taken a bit of a back seat. I think, especially now, I needed to do something wrapped in positivity. The designs are all around the words Love, Peace and Freedom and in a jolly, pop art style with bold colours.”
Given a glimpse of the designs, I can immediately see they are true to the house of Constantine design values, and are no doubt sure to be gracing homes from Alderley Edge to Adelaide the moment Jan has a minute to make it happen.
