Sarah Poland's childhood was marked by a natural inclination towards sewing, painting and colour, evident in her first play on a sewing machine at the age of 8, creating a super hero cape for her teddy. By the time she was 14 she had sold her first skirt for £10, crafted from off-cuts of Clan Campbell of Cawdor tartan cloth, remnants from her mother's commission to make uniforms for Cawdor Castle.
Hailing from a lineage of master furriers, stretching back nine generations on her father's side, who crafted furs for figures such as King George III and Queen Victoria, earning the Royal Warrant. Her mother, distinguished in her own right, pioneered her namesake label and was Laura Ashley's inaugural fashion designer. Additionally, her grandmother's expertise in free-style pattern cutting further enriches this heritage. With such a remarkable family background deeply rooted in the fashion world, it's no surprise she is driven to fulfil her ambition of launching her own label.
Advert for G Poland and Son furriers, at Oxford Street London, from London Daily News, 2nd December 1880.
British Library - Untold Lives blog.
George Poland and Son - Furriers to the rich, friends to the poor.
The road less travelled
Between 1993 and 1997, Sarah Poland studied fashion design at Edinburgh College of Art. Over the subsequent 25 years, she dedicated much of her time to painting while also crafting clothing for herself, her family, and friends.
Typically taking the less conventional route, she spent a decade in West Cornwall before constructing her Nomadic Studio in 2009. This unique studio allowed her to embark on a self-directed artist residency in the Scottish Highlands, where she immersed herself in landscape and local music for several months.
The Nomadic Studio in Glencoe, Highland.
Driving South, she then immersed herself in an ancient oak woodland in West Wales. What began as a few months in the Nomadic Studio, evolved into five years.
By 2012, she split her time between parking in the woodland and parking on the seafront in Aberystwyth - where she pursued a Master of Fine Arts (gaining Distinction) at Aberystwyth School of Art.
It was in the woodland that she discovered oak gall ink, and played with the chemistry of the materials, creating her own personal way of making and using the ink.
Oak galls.
Broadening her palette to use other plant matter, she continues to make her own botanical inks and natural dyes. These materials serve as the foundation for her artworks, among them a striking hanging textile installation.
In 2022 Sarah Poland received an Arts Council Wales Create grant to create a public gallery solo exhibition at Elysium Gallery in Swansea.
The exhibition spanned 5 years of work and predominantly used botanical colour. During this show she hung the large installation of 40 natural dyed painted canvases. Additionally, she unveiled a mini clothing collection crafted with natural dyes, inspired by the artwork displayed.
To source her botanical colour, Sarah has established her own regeneratively grown dye garden, alongside a regenerative edible forest. Additionally, she responsibly forages for dye plants flourishing wild on her plot of land in West Wales and also buys organically certified dye extracts. Having spent a number of years seeking to create a more sustainable arts practice, the lengths of naturally dyed fabric naturally led her back into clothing design, with true sustainability as responsibility.
And so, Sarah Poland the natural dyed, limited edition clothing brand was born.
Inspired by 1950's coffee culture (think Beat generation), 90’s London and an inner rock chic infused with the colours of natural dyes and prints from her artwork.
Why I Natural Dye