READING THE LABEL - Christmas Gifting Edit
READING THE LABEL - Christmas Gifting Edit
Pre-launch price: £600. Full price: £950.
A note from Iain, founder of The Aficionados
Our savvy readers have a habit I have always admired: they read the label. Before they buy a blanket, a scent or a ceramic bowl, they turn it over to see who made it, where and how. They go looking for the crafted and the artisanal, for things that are properly made, and ideally made with a smile.
That’s the reason we think you may be interested in this Christmas Edit that goes only to our top-tier subscribers: the 12,800 people closest to us, who open every edition and follow everything we do. They travel widely, they come home with an eye trained by the places they stay, and they rely on us as a kind of personal shopper and concierge, both for where to go next and for what to bring home. Every December they ask us where to find the things worth giving.
This year we are answering properly. Iain’s List is a three-part Christmas series, featuring fifteen makers and artisans we have chosen by hand. Each brings one piece, presented in good company with a direct link to buy.
We would like you to be one of the fifteen, as we respect what you do. Places are limited, and it is a small, closed shop window, shared with fellow makers who read the label as carefully as our readers do.
If it appeals, simply order your place here, or let’s speak this week.
The idea
READING THE LABEL is the thread through the whole series. Our readers search beneath the label for provenance, craft and good making, and Iain’s Edit gives them fifteen makers that reward the look.
The list runs across three editions from 15 November, with each maker showing one piece for the home: a scent, a hand-woven blanket, a special edition writing set, ceramics, or another home piece made to be lived with. Each edition opens with a personal note from Iain, introducing that week’s pieces and the makers behind them.
Alongside the sends, every maker appears in a collective pop-up store on theaficionados.com, live from the day you sign up and remains online until the end of the year, or until you ask us to stop selling.
Timeline and what we need
Places are confirmed in the order they are agreed, and the list closes at fifteen.
Fri 6 November: Your file submission to us
Thu 12 November: Final copy shared with you for a fact check
Sun 15 November: Edition one
Thu 26 November: Edition two
Thu 3 December: Edition three
Sun 13 December: A cross-reference Sunday Edit links to all fifteen makers and the journal post
Thu 31 December: Pop-up store placements end
Please send everything in one file: high-resolution images of your chosen piece (no text on the images), your brand name, your core wording, the link to buy, and your last order date for international Christmas delivery.