Make your home something to talk about with these extraordinary products from The Citizenry
We love it when we find like-minded people who believe in the importance of travel and experiences. We caught up with #WanderableGypset, Rachel and Carly, the two travel gurus of The Citizenry, who revealed to us their passions and the concept behind their incredibly unique philosophy and website. These two wanderers have a strong belief that our homes should be a reflection of the journeys that we take, so they travel the world and find the best of the best to sell on their awesome website. They collaborate with local artisans in various countries to combine their modern style with their time-tested techniques to bring you an exclusive collection of home goods. Here is an inside look at our latest #WanderableGypset: Rachel and Carly of The Citizenry.
Wanderable: Walk me through an average day in your un-average life.
CARLY: Our days in the studio always start with a French press and some time to love on the office dogs. Then we jump into lots of emails and calls with our artisan partners, web team, and graphic designer. It’s a lot of unglamorous hard work, but we have a talented team that makes the day-to-day exciting. The really un-average days are when we’re traveling to visit our artisan partners…
RACHEL: Whether it’s a 20-hour bus ride to visit a rural village in Peru or trekking across Africa, we’ve already accumulated so many great stories. When we’re traveling to visit artisan partners, we constantly have these pinch-yourself moments when we can’t believe we’re lucky enough that this is our job.
What inspired you to develop this type of business? Was it something you always dreamed of doing or something you just fell into?
RACHEL: The idea came from our own frustrations trying to find beautifully crafted items for our own homes. We were looking for high quality, handcrafted pieces, from a company we could feel good about, at a price that didn’t break the bank. That’s a tough combination to find.
CARLY: We started thinking about the things in our homes that we treasured, and all those items had a story behind them – either the story of the maker or the place where it was from. We wanted to build a brand that celebrates those people and stories behind the products.
How do you decide where you want to travel?
RACHEL: We choose places for our collections based on their natural resources and product expertise in a certain category.
CARLY: For example, we went to Argentina for the country’s incredible leather, and we targeted Peru for their native alpaca and weaving expertise. Both cultures also have rich histories of craftsmanship, and we were so excited to shine a light on those stories.
If you could choose one of our Wanderable Experiences (we have over 2,500!) which one would it be and why? (www.wanderable.com)
CARLY: The site is a rabbit hole of experiences I die over, but I’d pick this Cambodia package. It’s a country I haven’t explored, Angkor Wat is on my bucket list.
RACHEL: I’ll never turn down a chance to go to France. This tour of Champagne has my name written all over it!
What is your favorite item on the website and why?
CARLY: I’m head over heels in love with our Copper Butterfly Chairs. They are handcrafted in Buenos Aires and are the perfect mix of modern design and old world craftsmanship.
RACHEL: The Estrellas Rug is another one of our favorites. We worked with a small group of weavers outside of Lima to hand dye every color and weave these beauties start to finish. Each one takes six weeks to complete, so they’re true works of art.
What are you loving right now?
CARLY: Public Supply Notebooks are my new favorites for scribbling notes and ideas.
RACHEL: Red velvet macarons and maman coffee cups.
What are your travel essentials? OR What’s always in your carry-on?
CARLY: Cuyana travel cases and drybar detox dry shampoo.
RACHEL: It may sound like a shameless plug, but I always travel with one of our San Pedro blankets. I’m always cold on flights, and these are the perfect weight for travel.
What destinations are on your bucket- list?
CARLY: Morocco and Turkey. We’re already dreaming up possibilities in all those places.
RACHEL: Japan would be an incredible collection as well.
Now you can easily see why we are gushing over The Citizenry. Just wait til you see the other products that are sold on the website–they definitely give Anthro and Urban a run for their money. We cannot wait to see what else Rachel and Carly have in store!
#WanderOn
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