JOURNAL

From England, with Love

Lunch alfresco at Amanda’s family farm, Select photographs by Lottie Hampson

This July, we traveled across the pond to bring our forthcoming Fall collection to life at the home of our friend and longtime collaborator, Amanda Brooks. Tucked into the rolling hills of the Cotswolds, Amanda’s home sits on a generations-old family farm, where her blossoming backyard garden gives way to horse pastures, sun-bleached fields dotted with roaming sheep, and fields of flowering clover that curve endlessly towards the horizon.

On our last day at the farm, having wrapped our shoot, we invited a handful of friends — many of whom we’ve long admired from afar — to join us in the Cotswolds and experience a bit of our world. Guests met us at Cutter Brooks, Amanda’s expertly curated shop in Stow-on-the-Wold, to browse the hand-curated selection of treasures for home and closet, including pieces from our very own spring and summer collections. Once our baskets brimmed over with keepsakes, we headed back to the farm for an afternoon picnic in the shade of one of the farm’s oldest trees – just in time for the sun to make an improbable (and not at all forecasted!) arrival. The scene at the farm, envisioned so beautifully by the talented Miranda Brooks, was a dreamy afternoon escape; our spring and summer quilts spread out amidst the sea of purple clovers strewn about with custom lined picnic baskets, a long table nestled into low-hanging branches, a spread of vibrant bites by Miranda Martin, and colorful glasses filled with sparkling concoctions and Sophie James wine.

There, in the golden glow of the late-summer sun, we spent hours laughing, lounging, and catching up with friends old and new — the perfect end to an endlessly inspiring trip.

Margaret, Amanda Brooks, Katherine and her son Wilder, outside of Cutter Brooks in the Costwolds

Our Bouton de Rose tablecloth in the wild; Martha Ward in the Insbrook Dress

Laughter at the picnic table set amidst a field of clovers

Miranda Brooks, Amanda Brooks, and Margaret make their way to the picnic, basket in tow; a close-up of our Spring Parc Monceau tablecloth and wild blooms

Karina Marriott wears the Deia in Lydden Garden

Freshly picked plums; our Spring Parc Monceau and Blue Winter Ditsy quilts served as a the perfect perch for lounging in the field

A laughter-filled lunch table with friends old and new

Phoebe Dean and Helen Shaper head to the afternoon festivities; Millie Mackintosh wears the Franique Dress in silk organza with her little one

Anne Christensen, Plum Sykes, Katherine, and Miranda Brooks

Our favorite Polaroid outtakes from the afternoon

The sun unexpectedly came out before the luncheon was over

A delicious lunch spread prepared for us by Miranda Martin; Karina Marriott in the Deia Dress in Lydden Garden and Abi Marvel in the Emmarretta Dress in Blue Jessamine Calico

The windy path through the clover fields en route to lunch

More afternoon snaps