The talented locals behind The Indie Store
As we gingerly step back into the real world, it's more important than ever to support local. Here, we tell the unique stories behind some of our Indie Store businesses.
Wallets at the ready! The Spring edit of the Indie Store is live, a super scroll of fresh new fashion, gifts and ideas for your home where you’ll discover the best of local talent across the Muddy counties and here in Northamptonshire. But who are those local faces behind the brilliant brands?
FOREVER WILD INTERIORS
Farmer’s daughter Tania Parsons (Wild is her maiden name, hence the branding) set up accessories and interiors business Forever Wild from her home in the pretty Northants village of Everdon in 2019. With lockdown hot on her heels, an online store swiftly followed. Tania has a determinedly earth-friendly outlook and wanted to ensure this played a central role in her brand’s ethos. It’s a very personal and carefully curated collection of sustainable gifts and homewares made from cowhide and sheepskin, connecting to her farming background. Since most of the materials used are farming by-products, it helps to reduce waste and environmental impact. Rock-chic accessories, stylish butterfly accent chairs and sheepskin rugs work for both indoor and outdoor living and, because they are made from natural materials, you can forget matchy matchy, every item is beautifully individual.
XACHOH SPIRITS
With a family history of Persian herbalists dating back generations, it’s easy to see how Mohamad Djahanbakhsh came to create Xachoh (it’s pronounced Za-Ko), a zero-alcohol distilled drink made in Silverstone that places a strong emphasis on the power of plants to enhance health and wellbeing. Mohamad’s guiding principal in starting the business three years ago was to create an uplifting drink from natural botanicals that was free from alcohol, sugar, sweeteners and artificial flavourings or preservatives. Although they are alcohol-free, the botanical blends lend themselves to that ritual of pouring and mixing a drink at the end of a hard day’s toil without any of the downsides that come with too much of the old mothers’ ruin.
MOWGLI AND MOON
Just opened at the end of January, this family-run, online homewares store has hit the ground running. The brains behind the brand are Arlena (who’s childhood nickname was Mowgli) and Cameron Bower (who’s childhood nickname was Moon), not forgetting their beloved pooch Jasper, the company mascot and chief stamp licker. The couple’s love of beautiful and high quality interiors is their driving force. The spaces we inhabit can have a huge impact on our lives and our general sense of wellbeing and surrounding ourselves with things we love is crucial to that, especially when we are all spending so much time inside our homes. Mowgli and Moon is all about items that are uplifting and indulgent, whether that’s a chic velvet armchair, a starfish-shaped brass door-knocker or a vintage vase, it’s all about surrounding yourself with objects to make you feel good.
