Vicky Meets'¦ Julia Grant, owner of Winter's Moon

By Vicky Edwards
Julia at Winters MoonJulia at Winters Moon
Julia at Winters Moon

I’d barely crossed the threshold before I started ohh-ing and ahh-ing. It’s a reaction that Julia is used to. Offering a mix of ultra-cool contemporary and colourful retro homewear, her goodies evoke the same response in most people who visit the shop, located just over the road from the hospital on the corner of Chichester’s Melbourne Road and Spitalfield Lane.

“We stock colourful mid-century and modern homewears, mostly UK-made, which make your home a happier place. Well-made and priced well, the balance is around 70% new and 30% vintage. I also work with illustrators and I have lovely greetings cards that work with my style that you won’t find anywhere else,” said Julia.

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A former senior creative for Sofa Workshop where she styled everything from photo shoots to marketing material, “it taught me how to make a product look great, especially on a website” Julia said, admitting that as well as a degree in textiles she has always had an eye for colour and design.

“If I watch a film, I’m looking in the background to see what the curtains are made of. It’s just the way I’m wired.”

Now based in an airy studio, the name Winter’s Moon originates from the business’s early days of open house sales, selling from a beautiful house of the same name. Opening online in 2009, Julia quickly found a host of customers who shared her passion for quirk and colour.

“But I wanted to sell face-to-face too and I was hunting for somewhere affordable that wasn’t too isolated and that had parking.”

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Having always been curious about the building in Hortons Yard, fate intervened. Driving past one Sunday, Julia spotted a sign advertising units for rent.

“David my landlord is great and I hope that being here means I bring something different. For all its wonderfulness Chichester has let itself down a bit,” said Julia, no fan of chain-centric town centres and a member of Design Collective Chichester, an organisation that raises awareness of design in the area.

“My Perky Table is made locally and it sells all over the world,” she said proudly.

Vintage pieces, however, often entail some good old fashioned foraging.

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“Every now and again you find something fabulous. I once found some Scandinavian ceramics in a box at a car boot sale. In mint condition, I just scooped them up in my arms,” she laughed.

Now regularly featured in the style pages of leading magazines, on Saturday 14 October Winter’s Moon will welcome guest seller Karen Greenfield from The Draper's Daughter and they are inviting people to pop in and say hello.

“The Draper's Daughter is a local company selling beautiful contemporary fabrics and patterns inspired by a love of fashion and style for the modern maker. We will be open 10.00am - 5.00pm and there might be some cake.

“Help keep smaller creative businesses alive! Come and buy gifts, or for yourself, or just have a nose around.”

For more information: www.wintersmoon.squarespace.com

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