Into the Wilderness

I’ve been spoilt with festivals on grounds of English stately homes this summer.  Ok, spoilt might be a stretch but following Port Eliot a fortnight ago with a day trip to Wilderness, in a comparison of two festivals that try to outdo one another with how British and middle-class they can get, does seem indulgent.  I have Mulberry to thank for my Saturday sojourn to the pictoresque  lush countryside of  Cornbury Park in Oxfordshire, which played host to the fourth Wilderness festival.  And luckily I was there in the sunny nick of time before being lashed by gale force winds and rain today.

It’s the first time Mulberry have had presence at a UK festival (they previously hosted events at Coachella a few years ago) and it seems like a significant time to rock up at a festival like Wilderness, engage with customers in an endearingly adorned tent and a handy hashtag #MulberryLovesCraft.  Wilderness is multi-faceted, on the one hand revelling in neon-spandex, sequins and feather attired debauchery, best seen late at night when children are tucked in boutique camping tents and adults come out to play in woodland raves and bonfire parties.  And yet on the other hand, it promotes genteel vibes with yoga classes, Swedish lakeside saunas and crafting stands aplenty.

Two feather-headdress adorned babes inside the Secret Emporium tent – I’ll leave it up to you as to how to judge the PC-ness of their headdress styles

Dive In, Feel Free people…

That’s where Mulberry came in with their Mulberry Loves Craft tent, set up with workshops to teach people to stitch or monogram their own leather bracelets in countryside-derived shades of pheasant green, oak and flame.  Festival goers could also speak to Mulberry craftsmen from the Bridgewater factory (otherwise known as The Willows) about the processes of making one of Mulberry’s iconic Bayswater bags.  Mulberry’s attempt to reshore their production back to England is not to be sniffed at as they’ve invested over £7.5 million towards The Willows as well as using a government Regional Growth Fund towards recruitment and training in the local Somerset area.  With over 700 craftsmen and craftswomen working at both factories (The Rookery is Mulberry’s premier flagship factory) and an ongoing apprenticeship programme, it’s definitely a positive step towards the overall process of reshoring in the UK, as pointed out in this recent Business of Fashion article.

Over in a beautiful walled garden, away from the hub of Wilderness, Mulberry and their AW14 ambassador and collaborator Cara Delevigne hosted a picture perfect picnic complete with haybales, shabby chic blankets and custom-made hampers filled with cobnuts, heritage tomatoes and cucumber juice (we grazed like rabbits for lunch but feasted like kings later at night at the Hix banquet – two whole chickens between four people?  More food with fashion displays please…).

Photograph by Dave Bennett

I never know what the crap to wear at a festival.  Hunter wellies and sundress person I am not not.  Opted for my marabou-festooned t-shirt from Bubbles Tokyo, Romance was Born top, vintage skirt, a Nike Tech windrunner, Christopher Kane belt, PAM glitter boots, Ray Ban velvet sunnies and of course, a Mulberry bag.  

And of course the woman of the hour Cara Deleveigne was presnet to pull some funny faces, leap about the long grass around her “Cara-van” (geddit?) and get intimate with her own bag by  hugging, biting and kissing it.  It is a bag worth lavishing some love on as a nifty three-in-one style that can be worn on the shoulder, as a rucksack or as a hand-held satchel.  I’m particularly into the monochrome camouflage version.

Photograph by Dave Bennett

Cara, lush picnic and craft at Wilderness – what does it all project about Mulberry?  It all speaks of a gentle rebuilding of sorts.  Mulberry’s recent dropping profits, the stepping down of ex-CEO Guillon who was previously tasked to make Mulberry more exclusive, and thus expensive, and then departure of creative director Emma Hill doesn’t make for positive reading.  Back in February, it was then announced that a range of £500-700 priced bags would be introduced to entice back loyal customers (which already has had a positive effect on the share prices).  This is a new chapter at Mulberry as they also seek to reshore their manufacture, investing heavily in their two factories, as the Made in England tag becomes a communicable asset for the brand.  Then of course Mulberry are hoping that Cara’s bag will be an Alexa-esque turning point in the brand’s fortunes, as this former trophy bag helped the brand buck the last recession .  At Wilderness, Mulberry were given the opportunity to re-emphasise their core brand values – craftsmanship, Englishness and in their words “inspired by the cool of the city and the craft of the countryside.”  Mulberry’s participation in Wilderness is not just a jolly opportunity to roll around in bales and blankets, quaffing champers and canapes, but a sign that Mulberry perhaps are out of the woodland wilderness and into a once-again captivating clearing.

Picnic Posers… via @TheOfficialSelfridges Instagram