Todays interview is with designer Bronwen Eastman de Gonzales. Becoming a new mom set in motion Bronwen Handmade. She has lived in many places around the world and draws inspiration from all. With the new company and a baby, she reminds herself to slow down and enjoy the moments because life is about the journey not the destination. You can purchase items from her online here.
SD: With a culinary background, how did you begin designing?
Bronwen: I’ve been into both cooking and making things as long as I can remember. I made baklava as a third grade project and was making most of my own clothes by high school! They are similar endeavors, I think, in that they are both creative and aesthetically based.
SD: When did you start your own line of baby items?
Bronwen: I began Bronwen Handcrafted inc. a little less than a year ago with mostly the baby sling. Since then I’ve branched out into clothes and quilts for babies as well jewelry and a couple other things for adults.
SD: Where do you turn for inspiration for your designs?
Bronwen: I find fabric and bead stores pretty inspiring. It’s usually the beads or fabric that inspires the jewelry or clothing design and not the other way around.
I’m also greatly inspired by traditional, often indigenous artisan from around the world. I love that traditional artisans tend to work with a palette of colors and an eye not influenced by Fifth Avenue but by a history and place. I just returned from a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico and the aesthetic sense and skill of so many artisans there never ceases to amaze me.
Place is another inspiration. The feel of a city or the character of a region.
SD: How do you balance being a mom and running a business?
Bronwen: Ha ha. I wish I’d figured that out!! The job description of Mom changes all the time with a baby and there’s really no way of predicting what the business will do either. When it comes down to it my family is my most important thing. So, I try to keep that in perspective, try to keep abreast of the changing needs of the babe and, in regard to the business, I do my very best to prioritize!
SD: What was it like being in the Peace Corps?
Bronwen: Peace Corps was quite a trip. I was in Madagascar as an environment volunteer for a little over two years from age 19 to 21. In a nutshell, it was really hard physically and mentally and it was an incomparable and very valuable experience. Speaking of priorities, I learned a bit about what mattered to me and what I could do without. I think that in part it was PC experience that made me understand that making beautiful and useful objects and that running a business were not impossible for ordinary mortals—that in effect it gave me permission to start this business.
SD: What is the most important thing you have learned living in so many different countries?
Bronwen: I think that having learned the food cultures of the various places has really enriched my life, but I also feel sort of like a world citizen now and that if I wanted to pick up and move to say, Fiji, that would not be totally out of the question.
SD: Do you have a mantra that you live or work by?
Bronwen: I don’t really, but I’m forever trying to slow myself down and remind myself that it’s about the journey and not the destination.
SD: What does your average day entail?
Bronwen: Wake up late with restaurateur hubby and baby, check for orders, tackle a mountain of dishes, little family time over coffee, naptime=a solid block of work time, an outing of some kind, stolen moments of work between meals, baths and apartment hygiene, hang out with baby, baby sleeps=more work time until passing out.
SD: Describe your personal style?
Bronwen: I think I’m sort of a minimalist, I like my clothes to have clean simple lines but I enjoy luxurious fabrics, big earrings, and nice shoes.
SD: Who are your fashion icons (past or present)? Do you think they influenced your personal style?
Bronwen: Frida Kahlo comes to mind with her ethnic chic look. She always looked fabulous.
I know that I got a lot of my style from my mom though, so I she’s one of my fashion icons!
SD: Do you have any current fashion obsessions?
Bronwen: Oh yeah: earrings made by a group of indigenous people called the Mapuche in Chile and the square embroidered blouses from the Isthmus of Mexico called huipiles tehuanas, like those Frida Kahlo used to wear, as a matter of fact. Obscure enough for you?
SD: Is there anyone in the Smashing Darling community you have a question or comment for?
Bronwen: Just in general, I’d like to say that I’m so glad to have such a community of creative and interesting people to be a part of and I congratulate everybody for making it happen for themselves!
If you have an idea for an interview you would like to see us do, email me trish(at)smashingdarling(dot)com
