Hi there,
I’m Lis, the designer behind Gladys & Kate which is named after my grandmother and great-aunt who have influenced my love of all things design and textiles. There was always a dress pattern being cut out and a sewing machine on the go as I grew up, giving me an early appreciation for how colour and design makes us feel and the difference it brings to our everyday life.
I am inspired by abundant colourful flowers and the symmetry of mandalas. My work blends these together to celebrate the patterns we find in nature and the ones we make with our own hands. I design with luxury stationery, elegant wallpaper and gorgeous homeware textiles in mind, those surfaces that surround us everyday to make ordinary moments feel a little more special and considered.
I start with a hand drawn doodle of a mandala and then play with paint for texture and colour, finally mixing it all together to design & create the final pattern. The doodling and painting processes by hand allow me to create a unique story for each collection, inspired by life events and the world around me.
As a first generation kiwi, I am lucky to call both NZ and the UK home, I have loved living in London for most of the last 20 years and am now settling into NZ life once again.
If I am not designing and creating patterns you will find me out walking on the beach and cycling in nature, going on vineyard adventure weekends with friends or rearranging my home yet again!