The Essence of Wellbeing – Repose by Jacqueline Kaytar

Through an evolution of creation, Repose reimagines everyday products for home and life. Created by designer, stylist and maker Jacqueline Kaytar in the comfort of her own home studio, Repose’s purpose-driven collection encompasses ethically-made organic hemp textiles, Danish paper cord and raffia woven lampshades, and plant-dyed carryalls.

Prior to founding Repose, Jacqueline spent years developing home textiles on a commercial scale and became aware of the environmental impact of this mode of mass production. After having children, Jacqueline knew that the natural next step was to give back through her work. “I decided […] that if I was going to go back to putting more ‘things’ into the world, I had to do it better, to be a part of the solution,” she says. After discovering a lack of design-led ethically made and sustainable wares during the renovation of her home, Jacqueline began making her own products, and this marked the beginning of Repose.

After having children, Jacqueline knew that the natural next step was to give back through her work.

For Jacqueline, the processes of design and making are closely intertwined, and she spent years nurturing her knowledge and creativity through travel. Traveling enabled her to learn from the source, resulting in raw, warm and sensory design-led products that exemplify traditional crafts. “Throughout my career in design, the highlights have always been working with an artisan. Sitting on the floor in India with someone hand weaving. Vegetable tanning leather in Italy. Plant dying in Bali. All these traditional hand crafts inform my process when reimagining everyday items. Fortunately, most of these techniques use natural processes and materials that are more sustainable for people and the planet.”

This has translated into the local production processes behind Repose. “The collection is handmade using natural materials, mostly in my home studio where I weave, plant dye and screen print,” Jacqueline explains. As the business grows, her intention is to keep the weaving, plant dying and screen printing local. “When I started my career in homewares, I saw the bulk of production being outsourced overseas, and it’s really inspiring to see a movement back to local design,” she reflects. “The price of shipping, logistic delays due to COVID and the carbon footprint of freight are all helping to make local manufacture a better option, and I’m grateful to be a part of that movement.”

For Jacqueline, the processes of design and making are closely intertwined, and she spent years nurturing her knowledge and creativity through travel

From the hand-woven lampshades that offer warm dappled light to organic plant-dyed and hand-printed hemp napery and bags that celebrate natural variation, each Repose product is one of a kind.

From this emphasis on sustainable, regenerative materials and processes, the brand’s products are designed to offer a deeper connection to the home. “Repose means to be in a place of rest, peace, sleep or tranquillity, which is how I like to feel in my home,” Jacqueline says. “We spend most of our time indoors and a lot of that is at home; I think COVID and lockdown really made people realise how important that space is for our wellbeing. That is my intent for Repose and the items I make to help people make a home that feels good to be in.”

It is an approach that, in turn, drives a focus on products that engage the senses. “We perceive and read our environments through our senses. I’m interested in the instinctual human element of this perception, not only in how something looks but in how it makes you feel,” Jacqueline says. Beyond how a design looks in an image on the screen, she explains that her focus is also on “how it supports the other senses, how it feels to touch, the elemental beauty of natural materials and imperfect hand processes – they’re sensory and grounding.”

This sentiment is clearly evident in the collection. From the hand-woven lampshades that offer warm dappled light to organic plant-dyed and hand-printed hemp napery and bags that celebrate natural variation, each Repose product is one of a kind. Led by design and grounded in craft, Repose is gently making its mark for good.