The UK’s leading gardening charity Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has announced an exciting collaboration with the leather handbags and accessories brand Radley, which will bring horticulture-inspired designs to a new collection launching, appropriately enough, in the spring.
The Radley X RHS collection includes handbags, purses and tote bags, and features designs inspired by artwork from the RHS Lindley Collections, the world’s finest collection of botanical art, as well as the magnificent RHS Gardens themselves.
The designs are based on the work of admired female artists Caroline Maria Applebee, whose 300-plus elegant drawings are a fascinating record of social and horticultural history in her time, and Gertrude Jekyll, whose highly influential work laid the basis for modern garden design.
“It was a privilege to be given access to the RHS Lindley Collections to create this one-of-a-kind collection”
Radley creative director Zizi Hill
The result is a collaboration abloom with flora and fauna in shades of Hosta, Cactus, Lavender, Wisteria and Mimosa. The designs feature colour and foil-embossed details using leather expertly printed and appliquéd onto signature shapes. The RHS name will appear on swing tickets and sewn-in seam labels and on POS material in stores.
The Radley X RHS special edition collection will be available from March 11 at Radley’s London and Glasgow flagship stores, online and at a number of well-known retailers and independent stockists.
For this launch, the RHS is partnering with a company known for creativity and attention to detail. Born in the heart of London in 1998, Radley stylishly combines fashion and function in all its products: every handbag and accessory is made to last by skilled craftspeople.
Radley creative director Zizi Hill said: “It was a privilege to be given access to the RHS Lindley Collections to create this one-of-a-kind collection. Radley’s blend of creative design, quality materials,and immaculate craftsmanship has combined with the much-loved RHS brand and its unique design assets in a truly unique offering that we are certain our customers will adore.”
RHS licensing manager Cathy Snow added: “This gorgeous collection not only highlights the plants and flowers that help wildlife thrive, but is highly desirable in its own right. It’s a perfect partnership of skilled craftsmanship and gorgeous designs from some of the UK’s greatest horticultural artists, that I have no doubt will receive an enthusiastic reception.”
