Introducing the Blueprints Lookbook for Spring Summer 2026
So An Acre of Land is one year old. Although in reality it is much older than that. As many of you know, the journey began when I started making clothes for myself over nine years ago. At the bottom of it all, what drives me is the fundamental need to feel good in what one wears, and hopefully for that to be recognised by others too. I want other women to feel that way. I celebrate female form and shape and beauty. I wanted an alternative choice for women, whatever their shape, to be able to wear clothes in beautiful fabrics, as affordably as possible and, ironically, to not have to think too much about what to wear each day.
I am literally the least fashionable person you could meet. I have never been fashion conscious. I just like what I like, with as little fuss as possible. Life is too short and I do not have enough money to buy new clothes all the time. I would rather buy an antique French something than an item of clothing. That feeling sits very much at the heart of An Acre of Land, and of this collection too.
That is why we will have one main collection a year, launching in springtime, around one theme, to encourage people to join in with the story, because community is important to me. This is then followed by the same garments in perhaps a few different fabrics, and then a smaller collection for the colder months. We do not often do repeat orders. We operate on a once it has gone, it has gone system. But everything always links back to the founding collection, so wardrobes can be grown and kept, rather than replaced and discarded. The colours, shapes and fabrics will always keep the original palette as a reference point.
Blueprints is our year of blue. We have been watching blue for a long time. In cloth. In dye. In the thin edge of light on water. In the deepening sky as the day turns. It kept turning up in design sketches, swatches, moodboards and notebooks, until it stopped being a collection of ideas and memories and became the theme for the year. It is a season of sea and sky, salt air and dye vats, cyanotype shadows and ticking stripes. A lake under scattered clouds, a sweep of wildflowers. A year for noticing. A simple idea that we can come together under one sky.
We have also changed our supply chain recently to focus on handwoven cotton and linen fabrics, ensuring that money goes directly to the weavers and communities and that artisan skills continue to grow and stay. It also helps us to manage our fabric designs, quality and colours very carefully. Blueprints is born from time spent in West Bengal, learning about cloth, dye and the hand-loomed cottons that now run through this collection.
So the Blueprints collection was created with four main thoughts in mind.
Colour
Bringing in another colour that will sit well with all of the founding collection palette. We love blue with black, brown, natural and cream. We love the depth and clash and light it brings. Throughout Blueprints you will see French ticking blues and work stripes, natural dye stories, cyanotype inspired prints and sun made shadows, and blue waters, sea, lakes, rivers and rain pools, the moving blue in the landscape.
Story
Creating a story around one of my favourite images, created by Saussure. I love his story, what he created, and how a cyanometer can be used to measure any blue in any context in your life. It is playful and can be shared, so we made a postcard version and we send one out with every single order we post this year. Blueprints is an invitation to step outside and look up, to make a small ritual of attention. Every online order includes a physical cyanometer printed on card, and each week we share a Cyanometer Almanac entry as a gentle, shared practice of noticing.
Textiles
The fabrics. Exploring different weights of cotton, hand-loomed. Always using natural materials. Always seeing what else is possible. How a different fabric impacts the shape and drape of a garment is wonderful to explore. That feeling runs through the whole lookbook, from blue and black striped handloomed cotton to indigo gingham, cream cotton twill, linen with cotton lining, and the soft structure of pieces made to layer and live in.
Shape
Designing new garments that complement the founding collection. A top you can wear over a dress. A new waistcoat design that gives you more flexibility. A dress that will sit well alongside a jacket. A jacket that will mirror the shape of a dress. A coat that brings it all together underneath. That is really what this lookbook is about, seeing how the pieces speak to one another. The Abbey Blouse can be worn tucked into trousers or a skirt, or thrown on as a light jacket over a dress. The Zawn Waistcoat goes over everything, under everything, and holds an outfit together without asking for much attention. The Sky Dress is cut in a generous shape with a full skirt and pintuck pleats, made to be worn through changing weather and seasons. The Side Jacket sits over dresses and skirts equally well, with an open neckline and a softness in the way it fastens. The Saddle Coat brings in history too, with its traditional riding coat shape, sweep and movement.
This lookbook is our way of gathering those thoughts together. Blue as anchor. Cloth, dye and handloom. Garments with shape, movement and purpose. Clothes that can be worn with ease, lived in, layered, kept. Clothes that sit alongside the founding collection and extend it, rather than replace it.
In summary, An Acre of Land means far more to me than a way to earn a living or buy myself a home. It gives me an outlet to create, to give something and to connect. For my daughters to be proud of me, a legacy, a way to be remembered, a way to give back, a way to learn and grow, a way to support other finders and makers. A way. Movement. A path. A dream fulfilled. Welcome to Blueprints.
