‘A single green light, minute and far away, that might have been at the end of a dock’
Like Jay Gatsby, it looks like we’ve all found that little green light, a beacon of all our future hopes and dreams now that we are starting to emerge from this year long nightmare. We’re finally getting to the point we’ve all been dreaming about – albeit a smaller dream than ones we’ve probably had in previous years… simply getting some sense of normality back in our lives is what it’s all about.
For parents like me it was when schools finally reopened – woohoo!! For groups of friends, it was March 29th when we could finally meet up outdoors with buddies and catch-up face to face on what’s been going on in their lives. April 12th just a few days away now, when we can finally begin to be rid of those ‘lockdown locks’ whilst also visiting a pub beer garden to show off our newly groomed look and so on…
I’m relishing reaching all these milestones but one I’m particularly excited for is to be able to get back to the coast for the first time in a while and having a little friendly rivalry with my family as to who will be the first to see the sea! Whilst you’re no doubt already aware that a great deal of inspiration for our Pureshore Collections derives from the UK coastline you may not be aware that it also comes from our love of the often-overlooked Art Deco architecture found in and amongst the UK’s coastal resorts.
I have always been a huge fan of Art Deco and loved the opportunity to incorporate its sleek lines into the Pureshore designs. The Mosaic collection particularly was inspired by repeating patterns in Mosaic tiling and the Tulipa Collection take shell’s linear markings and blends them with the smooth lines of art deco design.
Having had more time to read lately, I found it interesting to discover more about what we now consider Art Deco architecture and how it came about in Britain particularly. Whilst we’re all so used to being able to get away to the seaside when we want to and have understandably been finding it hard to be stuck indoors for the best part of the last year, it’s worth remembering that it’s only in our recent past that the UK coastline became a prominent holiday destination. It wasn’t until the mid-nineteenth century that the idea of bank holidays was introduced as a way of giving people time off from work. Until this point, most people had very little leisure time to call their own. The notion that the sea and being by the coast could provide a wealth of health benefits was the start of a love affair with the UK coastlines and the beginnings of the coastal resorts we know and love today. The familiar architecture that we now know as Art Deco, inspired by the movement in France in the 1920s, began to spring up in the UK in the 1930s with cafes, theatres and cinemas, lidos, hotels and even some private dwellings boasting the sleek curves, geometric patterns and decorative motifs details, although the actual term ‘Art Deco’ was not popularised until the 1960s.
Fast forward to the 2020s and what better way to celebrate the beach and art deco than with a cocktail! And what better represents the glamour and glitz of the Art Deco era than a martini?! My favourite evening last summer was sitting on the cliffs of the Jurassic Coast, Dorset, the sun twinkling on the sea, sipping a Passionfruit Martini and watching the sun dip below the waves. Whilst we’re not quite at the point of being able to enjoy the cocktails on the beach just yet, we are finally able to enjoy some in our gardens and parks with another household. Small things hey!
Olivia x
