Daughters of Gaea’s India Collection Comes to Life with Support from Nest

As she sought to fill her home with ethically made, beautifully designed pieces, Felicity Marshall saw a gap in the market for luxury home goods which were made both sustainably and ethically. In her research and exploration of this lack in the market, a business idea blossomed. Seeking to learn more about the artisan development space, Felicity connected with Nest. Utilizing curated reports provided through a partnership with Nest Sourcing, Felicity was introduced to a network of artisans, forming amazing connections that have helped her launch her brand, Daughters of Gaea.

This interview tells Felicity’s story of creating her new luxury home decor brand.

The idea for Daughters of Gaea came when I was furnishing a house a few years ago. As I was looking for pieces to fill the space, I wanted them to be both ethically made and environmentally friendly. It was then that I began to realize just how difficult it was to find items that uphold these values, so I started to think about how I could create my own luxury homeware brand, blending these ideas and ideals together. I think furnishing our homes with beautiful items is easy, but finding pieces that have nothing to hide is much harder. As I explored various product development options, I discovered that I really wanted to make a positive impact by investing in the work of female artisans around the world.

There’s a growing conversation about slow fashion, but somehow this conversation doesn’t seem to apply to interiors as much. I think that “slow” should equate to items that are made with the utmost care and love. It’s therefore natural that slow homeware parallels with ethics and sustainability. Each piece takes time to make in small batch quantities, which helps to eliminate waste and pollution. When pieces are handmade with care, they should last for life. They are created to be a treasured part of your home. A slower process means that more consideration can be put into making sure fabrics and dyes are sustainable, as well as choosing artisan groups with a positive social impact.

As I began building Daughters of Gaea with these intentions in mind, I discovered Nest. I was so excited to partner with Nest’s sourcing team; they helped connect me with some amazing artisans who have helped bring my vision to life.

Now, we’ve now launched our first collection, The India Collection, which was produced by a heritage woman-owned handcraft studio in Bangalore. Aside from producing beautiful, authentic handcrafted items, their vision and mission align with Daughters of Gaea.

In its design, the collection pays homage to traditional Indian florals, inspired by a wild garden, showcasing dreamlike, reversible, clashing prints. Many of the designs in the collection are directly inspired by the natural world–snapshots of the landscape at any one point, you get a beautiful and unusual colour palette with all sorts of clashing colours infused together to make a striking canvas. This inspiration from the natural world pairs perfectly with my production partner’s practices of using sustainable materials and low-impact natural dyes.

At Daughters of Gaea, we are so excited to continue growing our relationships with artisan producers around the world as we launch each new luxury homeware collection.