The Brother Rabbit Lifestyle
Everyday Romanticism for
men, women, children and home; the
Embodiment of the Arts & Crafts
Our Journey
We began in 1989 making wedding clothes and special occasion items for friends of friends in our dining room.
By 1993 we were supplying period activewear to local living history sites, including Ardenwood Historic Farm and Dunsmuir House
Realising that we could make our own jewelery and buttons to match our garments, the idea of an Arts and Crafts style cooperative was born, teaching artisans our style and hand methods, and employing them as part of the firm, in the Briarpatch tradition.
Our CustomersWe supply exquisite handmade clothing, accessories, toys and household linens to the living history, museum, LARP and Cosplay communities.
Our products are largely reproductions of highend items and intended for the upscale, sutler, and boutique markets. We are currently very much ontrend for the 2014 Winter and 2015 Spring fashion season, both in Paris and New York.
Our customers are romantics, with disposable income, who want to invest in themselves and a lifestyle.Our income is presently $500 per week on average, from custom items and stock sales.
Our OpportunityThere is a dearth of readily available beautiful genuine English Arts & Crafts style items, handmade in the tradition of William Morris.
There are firms that cater to the Mission Arts & Crafts, such as Arts And Crafts Homes, and those that reproduce Morris' wallpapers and fabrics, but there is no one in the United States offering a complete lifestyle shop with items made entirely by hand, from start to finish by one person in the English Arts & Crafts style.
Our Products
From Mothers and Grandmothers needing an heirloom gown for their new babies, to couples making their first home, to living history interpreters needing lovely, accurate clothing and accessories, our patrons value the beauty and timelessness of our reproductions for their fine quality and enduring appeal.
Co-Operative
Our patrons are in great part reenactors and those looking for special occasion items for themselves or as gifts. We do the greater part of our business by in person advertising (wearing and use of our products), thus word of mouth. Our customers have become cooperative artisans in our enterprise, making items in their areas of interest.
Pricing is by individual item on custom orders, and by scale of complexity on stock items. Our low end items are of simpler materials, but not workmanship.
We have grossed about $10,000 over our lifetime and our customers go on to make regular orders (half a dozen and upwards).
Marketing & Growth Strategy
We have recently started an Etsy shop, a blog, and launched a Facebook page. Our future plans include trade and specialty magazines and shows, living history events, and workshops.
We believe that our grassroots approach in making the company cooperative will generate excitement among our patrons to not simply purchase our goods, but to embrace the Arts & Crafts lifestyle for themselves.
Investment Opportunities
We are in the process of raising $2550K in National Endowment Grants, both in the Humanities and the Arts, for the promulgation of the Arts & Crafts lifeway and teaching. We have realised $33K in converted pension funds to fund owner sustainability and materials.
We are planning to raise $100,000 by March 21, 2015 to open our brick and mortar shop, to train apprentices and employees, to hold workshops, and to serve as the design and sales floor for our enterprise.
100% of our NEA and NEH grants will go to the training of apprentices, both youths and adults, and to research for our survey project among artists and reenactors, delineating their daily use of Arts & Crafts ethics.
Investment Opportunities
We are in the process of raising $2550K in National Endowment Grants, both in the Humanities and the Arts, for the promulgation of the Arts & Crafts lifeway and teaching. We have realised $33K in converted pension funds to fund owner sustainability and materials.
We are planning to raise $100,000 by March 21, 2015 to open our brick and mortar shop, to train apprentices and employees, to hold workshops, and to serve as the design and sales floor for our enterprise.
100% of our NEA and NEH grants will go to the training of apprentices, both youths and adults, and to research for our survey project among artists and reenactors, delineating their daily use of Arts & Crafts ethics.
Top Related