Breakfast With Marazul

We hear from Harriet Baylis, founder of clothing brand Marazul, about living and creating in Cornwall, about ritual, about the tactile journey of textiles and the vital importance of daydreaming.

In a world that seems to be struggling to hold peace, serenity, quiet I find myself drawn ever more to those able to usher it in. Those who offer a quiet confidence are magnetic. And Marazul exemplifies just that. There is a certainty of form, a peaceful palate, a functionality that reverberates through each piece. Those who reach for a peaceful palate. It is an idea born whilst on global adventures and then raised in Cornwall with rock and sea and sky evident throughout. Founded by the marvel that is Harriet Baylis, I can assure you of a calm start to your day.

What do you consider to be the perfect breakfast?

Breakfast is by far my most sacred part of the day. We eat the exact same thing every day (soft boiled eggs on toast and a coffee) and our morning routine moves like a well rehearsed dance, the same, every single day. I drink my coffee from the same mug made by a friend and eat breakfast from my favourite plate.

I think that there is such a calm beauty in this. I love the habit, the ritual. I make a coffee, light incense and sit with it at the kitchen window, looking out at the garden long after I have finished breakfast. It is a time to gather my thoughts, chat to my husband or aimlessly watch the world go by.

Place is clearly such a significant part of your work and designs. Tell us about a place that has inspired, changed or influenced you.

I have been lucky in my life to live in some amazing places - London, New York, Central America and now Cornwall. My twenties were spent (as many peoples are) in a sort of transient chaos, very fun but I was always lusting over the next adventure, scratching the itch - buzzier, louder, faster…But then there was always the sea. And that big expanse of water, always drew me back to a really calm, grounded sense of wonder.

And I don’t think that it gets better than here at home in Cornwall. There are a couple of spots that I go to most days if I can, a walk to the sea. There is a magic in seeing the same place every day, watching the seasons change in the hedgerows and the light of the day. On a Baltic day in January when the wind is whipping you in the face, it is hard to imagine that six months from here, you will be stretched out on a rock, swimming before breakfast.

I think that I have had some of my most important conversations with the universe, by the sea. Made the biggest decisions, taken some big leaps, conjured up plans and ideas, cried a lot of tears and celebrated some wins. There is something about letting the weight of whatever is going on just filter through the layers, as you watch the water, letting it all come to you. I love that she gives us her all, and makes you feel like you really have to open your eyes and draw a deep breath to take it all in.

I think that place is the key driver in how I design - the fluidity and the power of being by the sea shapes the pieces that I create. The Doyenne Suit, for example, was a suit I created to harness the power of the female, of mother nature. The word Doyenne means to be the most respected or prominent woman in a particular field and this really resonated with the beauty and power in growing older. What an incredible thing wisdom is. This suit has gone on to be our most popular shape, for men and women.

And when it comes to the evolution of the business, have there been moments on luck along the way? A chance encounter?

Luck, that’s a tough one. I do believe that you make your own. I am a strong believer in recieving what you put out into the universe. I think that the luck elements can come from ‘right place, right time’ school of thought but that is also driven by our own actions. To strike up a conversation, push a new idea, make that move.

For Marazul, I think that the ‘luck’ elements honestly comes down to the people that I have been fortunate enough to meet. It is one of the things I am most grateful for. Whether this is the serendipitous crossing of paths with someone who I admire greatly and who helps push you a little further or inspires you to go a little deeper. Or it’s the ‘making your own luck’ and striking up a conversation with someone, taking that little breath in before doing something that scares you.

The people I get to shoot with, the stories I get to tell, the people I get to work with, they are my luckiest actions, as without them I wouldn’t be where I am, or inspired in the way that I am.

I have often spoken about the importance of play. Too often left in childhood when creativity needs us to keep it at the heart of our days. How do you incorporate the mess, the risk, the waste of time into your work? How can we all be more playful?

I would say lean more into the importance of day dreaming! I am a real day dreamer. I think there is such value in letting your mind wander, allowing yourself the space and time to essentially do nothing – in a world where we have a way to engage our brains every second, of every day, it is a forgotten luxury to let your thoughts ramble.

The brain is just incredible, particularly our imaginations and if we don’t give our imagination space to wander, then surely we are only feeding ourselves other peoples thoughts and ideas. I think I come up with my best ideas (and sometimes most obscure) from just letting those brain waves saunter around. I can sit and stare out the window, or walk alone for hours and this is when my best ideas come to me.

I come up with designs, think about ways I want to tell the stories of the pieces from day dreaming. I also solve problems or make big decisions by letting those thoughts have the time to filter through the layers. Its about not feeling like sitting doing ‘nothing’ is a waste of time.

What a luxury, to give ourselves space and time with no agenda, to just day dream.

I always write or sketch these down, my notebook is filled with scribbles and notes. I spend an inordinate amount of time with fabrics, sourcing and searching for them – I am fascinated by antique textiles, by the stories they tell or the lives of them that have gone before us – of the craftsmanship and stories woven into these pieces. I remember going to an incredible exhibition at The Barbican a couple of years ago on textiles, there was a room that was dedicated to quilts and tapestries that had been created at a poignant time in personal history – quilts that had been sewn by a community who had lost a son due to racial violence for example. It was so incredibly moving, that these pieces quite literally had the emotion and stories of this heartbreak, woven into them. I think this speaks volumes of the power (and healing power) of craft.

I can sit with pieces of fabric and dream up the design that will follow, often the fabric comes first – its why we do so many one offs, I get caught up in a single piece and I am guided by the fabric as to how it will work in a piece. Its probably the worst way to run a business (!) but so be it!

And your hope for the future? What is your hope for Marazul and for the future of creativity in this digital age?

Hope, well I hope we can all live calmer, quieter lives rooted in our connection back to the land the pattern of seasons it follows. I hope we can live in a way that we consume so much less, to spend wisely and to invest in our clothes in a long term, cyclical way.

And I think this is the response to AI and social media, to learn from what we already have – whether this is to re use textiles, to use more natural fabrics – I don’t believe this is something AI can take from us. To truly understand the story and value in pieces that have had a life before they come into our hands. To be honest though, I am areal analogue dinosaur so I am not sure my understanding of how we navigate AI is a very well researched one!

I look forward to new projects, getting excited by new ideas – we are working with some incredible fabrics for winter suits – Italian wool, velvet pinstripe and cotton silks .

I am continuing to work on uniform projects for clients too. There is a book I got given a few years ago called ‘Eating With Chefs’ it documents in photographs, the shared meal between staff before service, from all over the world – from big names to small neighbourhood restaurants. It’s a really quiet observation of this world in the calm before the storm – simple meals shared at a table in the restaurant or snatched sat on a beer barrel out the back, shirt open, apron cast aside. It made me really fall in love with the details of their uniforms. It felt like those moments before you ‘step into character’ – finish your meal, pop your jacket on or button up your shirt and the show starts.

Its what spurred the decision to create uniforms for restaurants, its something I absolutely love to do - to understand how they need their uniform to work for them. The effortlessness of a jacket but it has been so well thought out – where the pocket sits, how long the sleeves are. These details are so subtle yet so important. The pieces should also look good unbuttoned, rolled up, on the hook, cast to the side. Its all part of the beauty of it all.

I feel infinitely more at peace after hearing Harriet’s story and I will certainly find a moment to daydream today. Even just a moment or two might alight my mind to something wonderful.

Image Credits: Marazul / Lottie Hampson / Lucy Laucht

Next Edition: Northern Pasta Co