Q&A with Proper Good

HEY! LET’S GET TO KNOW YOU A LITTLE BETTER. INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND TELL US MORE ABOUT YOU AS AN ARTIST

Hey! I’m Abbie, a 27-year-old, full-time designer and small business owner based in Manchester. Aside from design, I love live music, 60s/70s fashion, travelling, lying in the bath, buying over-priced coffee and cooking.

If you could describe your collection in 3 words what would they be?
Funky, retro & colourful  🌼 🍄 👩‍🎤 ✨

What does a day in the life look like for you?
Up until pretty recently my days were quite full on with packing orders and replying to emails, however I’ve just started working with a printing company which has made my work-life balance SO much better!

Now my days are much more diverse, and every day is quite different. Typically, I start the day by making a coffee and then going through my emails/messages from the day before – I find this eases me in and gets something ticked off straight away. After this I will either be working on a new collection, packing wholesale orders, creating social media content or completing admin-heavy jobs like uploading products to my website or researching SEO. I always like to split up my day by working in local coffee shops, going on walks and going to the gym.

After work you’ll most likely find me in the bath watching YouTube / Netflix and drinking tea 🧖‍♀️

What’s a fun fact about you that you think would surprise people?
I’m not actually a Manc. I’m from Blackpool but everyone seems to get confused by my accent. I’ve lived in 5 northern towns / cities over the past 10 years so it’s a mad mix.

What’s your favourite design from the collection and why?
My favourite design is the Disco Case because I love anything disco and the holographic backdrop just looks soooo good! 

What’s on your bucket list?
Bucket list talk gets me excited as I’ve been on a bit of a mission to tick lots off before I turn 30. I’ve always wanted to visit Australia; go on a solo trip; sky dive and see the Great Barrier Reef and I’ll be ticking all these off over the next month (aaaaah)!

What’s been your favourite part of working with us?
Skinnydip has always been such a big brand for me growing up so when I received an email from you guys, I literally screamed! Everyone has been so lovely and we’ve all been on the same page which has been super nice. It’s been an absolute breeze and I’d love to do it all over! 💖 💖

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
I live by this quote from David Bowie: “If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.”

Tell us a bit about how the design process worked? What was key for you with regards to the final designs?
I knew that I wanted the collection to be really in sync with me and Proper Good, so I found it so fun to create and everything just flowed really nicely. I basically sat in coffee shops across Manchester for three days working through mood boards, sketches and iPad illustrations before witling down my ideas to 9 designs. At this point I always seem to get ridiculous imposter syndrome so sending them off took me a good few hours haha. We then had a meeting not long after and I was so pleased to see they were signed off.

I loved seeing the different case options available for the designs too; we went through different camera rings and finishes and picked out the holographic and glitter cases, along with the silver and gold camera rings. These finish the collection off so well ✨✨

And lastly, and very importantly. What’s your dream meal?
I love food so a death-row meal is something I’m very passionate about 🥲. I’d have garlic mushrooms to start; my Mum’s homemade chilli for main; apple crumble for dessert and lots of mojitos.

My socials are @wearepropergood and my website is https://wearepropergood.com/