ABOUT US
abigail*ryan is the young Belfast based brand of design duo, and husband and wife team, Abigail and Ryan Bell...
They burst on to the homewares scene in 2009, and already have their highly desireable products sold through prestigeous stores such as Liberty London and Fenwick's of Bond Street. Their story, and designs, have been featured and mentioned in Magazines such as Mollie Makes, Red, Elle Decoration and Homes & Garden.
April 2013 will see the stunning collaboration abigail*ryan have created for Jo Malone London and their Style Editor Charlotte Stockdale. The beautiful black and white illustrated items, with splashes of neon, will be available exclusively at Selfridges London and Manchester Exchange at the curated boutique, "Charlotte's Corner", and will celebrate Jo Malone's most loved cologne, Red Roses...
Their very first Trade Show saw them winning a 'Best New Exhibitor' award, as judged by Liberty homeware buyer Michelle Alger.
Working together, they combine Abigail's signature organic and nature inspired illustrations and Ryan's love and flair for colour and graphic design to produce beautifully unique fabric designs and objects for the home. They are passionate about pattern, and want to fill their home, as well as yours, with beautifully designed, quality and premium products that will enhance your home life.
Please contact us with any press enquiries at: abigailryandesigns@gmail.com
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Almost all of our homewares produced under the banner of abigail*ryan are hand sewn in our Belfast fabric studio, with the exception of our tea-towels which are hand screen-printed for us, on eco-friendly unbleached cotton in England.
We feel strongly about sourcing as many suppliers as we can as close to home as possible so we can support and strengthen our local economy, at the same time as being able to assure our customers that they have been produced to the highest of worker welfare standards.
All our linen is 100% Pure Irish Linen and sourced from a fantastic firm which has been milling Linen for over 40 years in Belfast.
You can follow all of our news on our abigail*ryan BLOG...
OUR BACKGROUND
Abigail Bell (née Percy) is an award winning jewellery designer born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland. She ran her own successful jewellery design company since 2005, closing it in 2011 to concentrate on a*r.
Following her graduation from Glasgow School of Art with First Class honors, and winning The British Jewellers Association prize for 'One Year On', awarded by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, she has exhibited her work in venues such as the National Museum of Kyoto {Japan}, The National Theatre {London} and the Scottish Gallery {Edinburgh} and has work in many private collections.
In addition, Abigail undertakes private styling and business consultation for designers across the UK. She has also lectured at Dundee College of Art in web 2.0 technologies and their application to the Designer Maker industries.
Abigail's design aesthetic is rooted in her Botanical Illustration work. Her painstaking pen and ink drawings are closely linked to her photographic work and have been exhibited in Glasgow's fashionable West End.
Ryan Bell hails from Northern Ireland and, since graduating from The University of Ulster at Belfast with a First Class honors degree in Fine Art Photography, he has worked on Photography projects with various clients, including a division of Marks and Spencer, and worked with many individual Designer Makers across the UK- creating their brand identities through consultation and graphic design under the moniker "DesireLines".
In 2006, to feed Ryan's love of design and thirst for new challenges, and his desire to return to the more hands-on side of the creative industries, the DesireLines brand diversified into Luxury Accessories. Since then, the business has focused on creating stunning one off handbags and, since early 2009, several collections of Fine Silver Jewellery.
Although self taught, Ryan has reached a level of skill with textiles that has allowed him to give various public demonstrations and private teaching workshops in handbag construction.
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Abigail & Ryan live and work together just outside of Belfast, Nothern Ireland with their small Lhasa Apso pup, Angus. abigail*ryan homewares is the fruit of their collective labours.
abigail*ryan is proud to be supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, and are current (2012) recipients of a CIIF grant. Our new product lines, produced with the support from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, will debut in Spring 2013. Our sincere thanks to Arts Council NI for their support.