SOLEMNIKO is a one-woman brand created from scratch;
fuelled by a childhood love of paper & leather goods. As well as a profound lifelong appreciation for art, the environment and traditional craftsmanship.
I began this journey back in 2016
when I set up my first Art business at 16. I sold horse acrylic portraits and continued in dribs and drabs over the following few years, finding my style go from a weird stippling with acrylic to slick line drawings and - finally - to pointillism. At University I began writing professionally on the side for a local theatre company, I set up the How We Came To Be Project in 2020 and in 2022 established SOLEMNIKO as my brand name. The reason I say I established the brand in 2020 is because the HWCTBP is - and always will be - the foundation upon which all of the other elements have been built. I care deeply about other people, about my effect on their lives and my relationship with the environment, as well as with the other beings who I share the world with.
I wanted a brand that created beautiful things from scratch by hand using traditional craftsmanship,
I wanted a brand that felt like a safe space, a welcome reprieve from a world that can all-to-often seem filled with only doom and gloom. I wanted a brand that was soft, that cared more about the world and it’s relationship with all aspects of the environment and eco system than it did with being generally popular or cool. I wanted a brand that I could fall in love with, grow my skills and self inside of - and bring others something to love as well. Something that made them feel that they could express themselves authentically, safely.
I do not believe in guilty pleasures,
and I definitely don’t believe in keeping luxury for special occasions. Life is meant to be lived, and every day is meant to be enjoyed - with luxurious decadence being found in the most mundane of things. I’ve never been able to save pretty things for ‘best’ I’d always begin using my new-bought things as soon as I got them home and unwrapped. I prefer to think of it instead of a lack of self-control as appreciating every day by experiencing the best and most beautiful things that make me enjoy the most mundane moments.
All my life I have loved stationery,
I have loved the smell of leather, the sight of rolls of fabric in haberdashers; I love bookshops, pens, nibs, pots of ink and as a girl it boggled my mind when I learned that some of these were handmade. Then it broke my heart a little bit when I discovered the majority were made in factories. Rolled out en-masse and made for the most part using materials that had not been responsibly cut down, re-planted or looked after.
After years of muddling, of running a side hustle on the side I decided to go for it and trust in my own business. To be perfectly honest with you I never imagined owning my own business. It all sounded terribly clever and far above anything I could ever hope to accomplish - after all I was just the girl next door with my head in the clouds. But then one thing led to another and… well here we are. And I love it, I would not change it for the world.
SOLEMNIKO doesn’t mean anything,
I came up with the name while I was sitting on the beach during my lunch break back in the early Spring of 2022. Instantly I knew that was the name I had been searching for my whole life. Like an old friend you suddenly recognise in the street. The brand contains with it everything I love, all the Arts I enjoy practicing as well as the ones I am learning - so I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy creating all the products you can find within.