I Love… Divine Savages
If you are looking to be inspired by daring, flamboyant & exquisite wallpaper & fabrics then Divine Savages has what you are looking for. Formed in 2017 by husbands Jamie Watkins & Tom Kennedy they have in 5 years built up a great reputation & following in the interiors world & also collaborated with the Natural History Museum & Heals.
One of their wallpapers “Blooming Marvellous” is in my hallway & I couldn’t be more delighted by this bold, beautiful statement wallpaper.
Jamie is also a friend from my National Geographic days where we worked together, so I’ve been really excited to see what Jamie & Tom have built in a few short years & the risks they have taken along the way. I was able to chat with Jamie & Tom about this in the run up to their 5th anniversary since launching Divine Savages.
Jules: Jamie & Tom, speaking as someone who is following their passion with my photography, admittedly later in the life, what made you leave your successful careers in fashion & design to start Divine Savages & has it worked out how you had hoped?
Jamie: It’s never too late to follow your passions or start something completely new! We started Divine Savages as a bit of a side project really, back in 2017 when Tom had recently left his full-time job in fashion to go freelance as a designer. We’d just started embarking on making some improvements and décor updates to our own home and found our shared love for interiors felt like a really good direction for Tom to focus on. His career as a print designer and illustrator felt quite a natural transition from fashion to interiors and before we’d had much time to plan for the longer term, the brand really took off! I was helping on the business side but still working full time in TV, but after a few years I realised I couldn’t manage doing both, and that if we really wanted to see the business grow then I needed to focus on it 100% too. I left my job just over a year ago now and haven’t looked back – I absolutely love working on Divine Savages!
Jules: Starting any new business has its challenges what might you have done differently if you had your time again (apart from no pandemic!)
Jamie: Starting something new can be really overwhelming. You always doubt yourself and whether you can actually do it or be successful. If we were to go back in time, I’d ignore those voices in our heads saying it wasn’t possible, to stop procrastinating and making excuses, and just take the leap much earlier than we did!
Jules: Tom your design aesthetic draws on history, fashion & the natural world- it’s by your own admission a melting pot of influences. Which design has given you most pleasure & can you tell me what is it about the natural world that so inspires you & why do you think the natural world holds such a fascination for many designers?
Tom: It's hard to pinpoint one design, as they all have a special meaning and moment in time for us, but nature is definitely at the heart of our designs. Geometric Aviary and Faunacation were two of our early wallpapers and they are still some of our best sellers. We’re inspired by the colours of the natural world, the flora and fauna. I think it comes quite naturally to designers to seek inspiration from the outdoors, to turn to mother nature – there’s such a rich world to explore.
Jules: You have also partnered with PTES on the nature inspired collections (People’s Trust for Endangered Species) how did that come about?
Jamie: We were very proud to partner with People’s Trust for Endangered Species. This partnership followed our bold collaboration with London’s Natural History Museum, taking steps to help our planet and support vital conservation work. For over 40 years now PTES has worked to improve the outlook of endangered species in Britain and the rest of the world, and with nature having always featured heavily in the Divine Savages collections, this was a perfect union to help support their essential work.
Jules: You have about 27 different collections focused in wallpaper, fabrics & furnishing? What are you focused on next- broadening the range of interiors or growing the number of collections or both?
Jamie: Considering we’re still quite early on in our design journey, we’ve built up a large collection of designs – Tom never stops! Our commitment towards a sustainable future means we focus on small-batch production, so we don’t overproduce, and we have a seasonless approach to design, with an emphasis on quality and forever-style over fleeting trends. We’re working on some new metallic wallpapers of existing designs, as well as some brand-new prints as part of our Natural History Museum collaboration, which we are really excited about!
Jules: Jamie whilst Tom is very much the design guru, you have used your marketing & communication skills to build the Divine Savages brand & have been especially adept at using social media platforms such as Instagram where you have 104k followers. What have been the biggest things you have learned in building that following & how hard is it to translate those followers into potential sales?
Jamie: Instagram has been an invaluable platform for our business. It’s helped us connect with a passionate interior and design community from the very start and they have followed us on our journey as the brand has grown. The support has been incredible, and it makes us so happy to see people sharing their interior projects with the Divine Savages aesthetic! The key I think is authenticity – our followers get to see behind the scenes as we grow our business, the creative development of new designs, and they also get to see myself and Tom. We’re not just another anonymous brand, you can reach out to us and say hi, ask us questions, and join us in our interior adventures!
Jules: So looking where you are now with your design studio what’s your ambition for the next 5 years for Divine Savages.
Jamie: When Heals department store got in touch last year about becoming a stockist, we couldn’t quite believe it – it’s one of our favourite places for interiors and design. We’d love to bring on board similar stockists in other regions, and a big part of our business plan over the next few years is to grow our visibility in overseas markets like the USA. We also love to travel, so now that the world is opening back up, we’re excited to get back out there for some more inspiration for our designs!
Thank you both & can’t wait to see what the next 5 years hold for you.
Collections
A series of photographic work, exploring wildlife from around the world. View the full collection here.
Available Prints
My top prints are available to purchase as limited edition runs of only 25 and 15 between 30” and 48” prints. View a selection below or the full collection here.
More Interviews with Jules Oldroyd
Solio 2023
In the last year this image of a 1-month-old rhino calf and its mother has become my most successful in terms of awards recognition.
Honorable Mention, Natures Best International Awards
2nd Fine Art Photo Awards, Wildlife Category
Honorable Mention, Mono Awards (Black & White version)
Honorable Mention, Mono Visions (Black & White version)
Available in:
Limited edition run of 25 - 30” print for £500
Limited edition run of 15 - 48” print for £1250
It was taken at Solio Game Reserve in Northern Kenya which is a private sanctuary dedicated to the conservation of white and black rhino. Solio used to be a working cattle ranch but in 1973 part of it was turned into a wildlife sanctuary. The result: rhinos and other wildlife came back to the area. Nowadays, it’s a 49,000 acre ranch with 19,000 acres of wildlife sanctuary for approx. 200 black and white rhinos.
On the afternoon we spotted this rhino mother and young calf, I decided that I could potentially get some special images from their interactions, so focused my attention on this pair for the rest of the afternoon. It was time well spent.
Whilst the mother seemed unfazed by our vehicle, I wanted to make sure we didn’t get too close to the calf at this vulnerable stage. So, I used my 400mm lens to capture these images from more of a distance than I had been using on other rhino interactions at Solio.
However, one thing I was able to do with the help of Rashid’s guidance was to get out of the vehicle and lie down on the ground so I could get eye level images of the rhinos. Most of the time I focused my attention on the calf as it joyfully ran around as the mother continued feeding on the grass. Then there was this moment as both mother & calf came towards one another stopping briefly inches apart. I liked the juxtaposition in terms of their size difference. I also felt there was a poignancy to their connection as hopefully the calf will grow horns as big as its mother, without fear of poaching. The shape of things is yet to come.
For more details on printing, delivery and charity, click here.