It’s summertime, and that means it’s picnic time! To help you in this crucial summer activity - whether it’s in a garden, on a balcony, at the beach or in a park - we’re really happy to announce the Summer Heat ‘小暑’ Picnic Collection. The collection is a collaboration between seventyfive and The Backward Vendor. It brings together seventyfive’s natural dyes and fabric design with The Backward Vendor’s leatherwork and design; both studios work in London.
The collection includes goods that are designed for picnics. In the collection we have a naturally dyed and waxed bento bag, a ‘soup dumpling’ pouch as well as a teacup and leather coaster set.
The Chinese name for the collection is ‘小暑’ (xiaoshu), one of the 24 Chinese ‘solar terms’ which divide the solar year. Xiaoshu takes up most of the month of July and usually starts on the 7th of July. Xiaoshu literally means ‘little heat’, and it is the solar term that falls before the sweltering heat of dashu. We feel that xiaoshu is the best time to get out, enjoy the summer and have an indulgent picnic, before the sweltering heat kills our appetites (a bit, anyway).
The Summer Heat collection is also inspired by Chinese poet Bai Juyi, who lived between 772 and 846, during the Tang Dynasty. We particularly enjoy Bai Juyi’s classic poem, ‘销夏’ (xiaoxiaj. In the poem, Bai Juyi reminds us that, only when the body is calm can the heat go. We hope that the waxed fabrics help you reach this state by reducing your worries of picnic mess. This collection should help to release heat during the sweltering heat of dashu as well!
In this collection we use organic fabrics, food safe colourants and a food grade wax coating for the fabrics. The waxing makes the materials waterproof (just to be safe, from the rain or the wine). The leather flourishes are an additional protective layer, saving your bag from the grassy park, and it also helps to give the collection a durable structure.
A core part of this collection is sustainability and waste reduction, so we’re also upcycling kitchen waste. We’ve used onion skins, avocado skins, avocado seeds and tea for the dyes, by products of the seventyfive kitchen and the kitchens of friends.
Have fun with your picnic, stay safe, and clean up after your waste: maybe even try dying something with it!
