In conversation with Shrimps founder Hannah Weiland
Iconic fashion brand Shrimps, founded by Hannah Weiland, is known for its whimsical design and playful colours. Having recently renovated her home, we asked Hannah to create a wishlist of her favourite pieces, inspired by her life and her collections. Think post-modern, Murano glassware and Scandinavian-inspired finds.
How would you describe your interior design style and how has this evolved over the years?
I love it when interiors show one’s individual character and interests, from the colours you use to the little knick-knacks you collect.
For me, I like to create a calm space and then bring in more eclectic elements that make it unique. For paint colours, I tend to choose calming pastel colours, and then I bring in brighter colours and print through the textiles, furniture, art, ceramics etc.
Vintage is definitely a huge part of my interior design style; I love the one-of-a-kind nature of vintage pieces, and the idea that a piece has history, a past life before it came to you.
The sustainability aspect of it also plays a huge part in my love for it too. I think over the years I have gotten more into vintage. I’ve become better at searching for what I want and I know how to trawl the sites (doing up a house in lockdown definitely gave me a lot of practice with this)!
Tell us about some of your favourite vintage finds and the stories behind them
So many of my favourite pieces are vintage, it’s hard to choose.
My Le Klint lights which I bought from Vinterior are really special. I saw them and immediately purchased them, no second thoughts and no hesitation. The seller then messaged me saying that he lived round the corner and he could drop them over the same day. It was such a nice surprise!
Another favourite find was my Murano Glass swirl light. It’s brown and cream, a colour combination that I have always loved, and has the most beautiful glowy light which warms you up on gloomy days. When it arrived from Italy it had a handwritten note from the seller with it, written on beautiful parchment paper, pressed with real flowers. The seller told me the story of the light called ‘Vertigo’, and that its life started in a convent in Bergamo, before being gifted to a florist who had been providing the ancient covent with her flowers and plants. To thank the florist, the nuns donated her this precious Murano lamp. It is such a sweet story and makes me love the piece even more knowing its wonderful history.
Where do you go when you need inspiration?
I travel when I can, I go to exhibitions, I read books, I go to vintage markets and antique fairs, I look through old postcards, print archives and go vintage shopping. I am very inspired by print and colour, so the more I can see of these the better!
What similarities or differences do you see in the design process of your home compared to your collections?
I definitely approach it differently. At Shrimps I design 4-6 collections a year, which is a lot, and everything is constantly changing and evolving. With interiors it’s different, there is one home, or one ‘collection’, you could call it. Of course you can add and take away from it, but with this in mind it’s a much slower process than with fashion – a collection that is never actually finished and always adaptable. However in terms of colour and print, the design process is similar; I just do a lot more of it in fashion, which is fun.
What role does vintage play in your home?
To me it makes my home, it brings in a sense of history. A lot of my pieces are also hand-me-downs from my parents, which has such a nice meaning to them. I love owning something unique, and vintage allows this to happen.
What advice would you give when buying vintage?
It often helps to know what you are looking for, but if there isn’t something specific searching a general term of a style or design period you like can really help. Eg, searching for Murano, Memphis, or Bauhaus etc. Learning what sellers you like best often helps too, so you know where to go back to look again.
