Tea Green Festive Design Market supports small businesses at V&A Dundee
For immediate release: 14 November 2023
Tea Green Events, set up by former jewellery designer Joanne MacFadyen to help showcase Scotland’s creative talent is asking the public to show their support for small businesses on Friday 24 November, a date now also known as ‘Colour Friday’.
Colour Friday is the nationwide campaign set up in 2021 by Holly Tucker MBE, as an alternative to Black Friday which supports larger brands.
In support of the Colour Friday small business initiative, Tea Green will showcase the work of over 70 independent designers and makers at the Tea Green Festive Design Market at V&A Dundee, opening at 10.00 am on Friday 24 November and running until 5.00 pm on Sunday 26 November.
Shoppers and supporters of small businesses will have an opportunity to meet and buy directly from over 70 different designers over the course of the weekend, including work from 2023 graduates of University of Dundee Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design.
Featuring small-batch, hand-crafted work from many of Scotland’s best independent designers and makers, the Tea Green Festive Design Market will include ceramics, jewellery, fashion, knitwear, prints, homeware and Christmas cards and decorations.
Joanne MacFadyen, founder of Tea Green Events, said, "Tea Green was set up in 2014 with the aim of championing Scotland’s independent creative talent and I am pleased to once again be bringing an unmissable showcase of creative businesses to V&A Dundee in time for the festive shopping period. The festive period is an important time for small businesses and every penny spent helps to ensure independent brands survive and hopefully thrive into the future.”
“The Colour Friday campaign by Holly Tucker, which encourages the public to shop thoughtfully with small businesses as a priority this festive season is very much at the heart of why Tea Green exists. There are so many incredible creative businesses based in Scotland, but it's not always easy for the public to know where to find them. By working with incredible spaces like V&A Dundee we want to help the public discover, support & celebrate this vibrant community of wonderful small businesses."
Here are just a few of the Scotland-based independent businesses shoppers can expect to see at this year’s Tea Green Festive Design Market at V&A Dundee opening on Colour Friday:
Fun Makes Good combines a love for pattern with a creative colour palette to produce a striking range of interior products which range from highly patterned tableware to signature patchwork pouffes and cushions.
Natla Jewellery Studio is a craft brand selling the work of social entrepreneur Stephanie Graham. Stephanie makes, sells and teaches jewellery making and reinvests the profits into Dundee Community Craft where craft education is provided as a means of skills development, personal development, resilience building and collective healing through craft.
Nikki McWilliams, well-known for her biscuit-shaped cushions and fascination with the ritual of the tea break has expanded her collection over the years to include jewellery, pins, accessories and stationery.
Celebrating skateboarding and its unique community, No Comply create homeware and jewellery from broken and disused skateboards donated from skaters across the UK. Cat and Andy are a team of two that craft from their workshop inside an old barn in Perthshire.
Samantha Dolan is an artist and illustrator who creates botanical and nature inspired cards, stationery, prints and paper goods. Using a mixture of watercolour, gouache, and digital mediums to design bright products that will bring the outside world to your homes and walls.
Scarlet Knitwear creates playful, geometric knitwear taking inspiration from shapes and colours found in everyday life. All pieces are made from Scottish spun lambswool and cashmere yarns, ensuring that products produced are ethical, durable and have a minimal impact on the planet.
Offering an alternative to mass produced cashmere, Second Cashmere are reinventing waste cashmere destined for recycling and landfill, to create sustainable collections including reclaimed cashmere yarns, original designs, and restored cashmere knitwear.
Erin Thomson, Retail Manager at V&A Dundee, said, “We are delighted to host the Design Market, personally it's my favourite event of the year, and this year is extra special, to have graduates joining us and supporting Colour Friday. It's a joy to have our museum spaces so full and bustling and supporting so much local Scottish talent."
For a full list of exhibitors please visit https://www.teagreen.co.uk/vadundee
For further information about Colour Friday please visit Colour Friday | Campaign Shop Independent - Holly & Co
In addition to the Tea Green Festive Design Market at V&A Dundee on Friday 24, Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 November, there are several other craft markets happening across Dundee, including CRAFTED Festive Market at Dundee Contemporary Arts (Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 November) and Discovery Point Christmas Fayre (Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 November).