Beatrix Potter’s tale of the dear prickly little laundress Mrs Tiggy-winkle is a favourite of Irish designer Orla Kiely and she’s designed a characteristically chic cover for this special edition, one of the Beatrix Potter British Fashion Designer Collection, created to mark the 150th anniversary of the author’s birth. A minimal black and brown hedgehog in simple modern style and repeat adorns the cover and, as Kiely hopes, should draw readers happily into the Beatrix Potter world. It’s very charming and in an extra stylish touch the edges of the pages have been sprayed pale pink to pick up the shade of Mrs Tiggy-winkle’s shirt. ~ Andrea Reece
In celebration of Beatrix Potter’s 150th anniversary, Penguin Random House have commissioned five of Britain and Ireland’s most exciting fashion designers to reimagine the cover designs of Potter’s best-loved tales. Visually stunning and completely unexpected, we hope you enjoy seeing Potter’s characters through this new lens. – Jo Hanks, Publisher
Beatrix Potter had an eye for fashion as well as the natural world, clothing her characters in à la mode jackets, hats, shawls and dresses with Peter Rabbit being inseparable from his iconic blue jacket. It has been a privilege working with modern British and Irish fashion designers, each creating surprising and wonderful designs inspired by Beatrix Potter’s classic tales adding their own distinctive style into the mix. – Adam Wardle, Designer
The Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle was first published in 1905, and is as charming today as it was then. It tells the tale of a hidden home high in the hills. It is discovered one day by a little girl called Lucie, who is in search of her missing pocket handkerchiefs. She knocks on the tiny door, and meets Mrs Tiggy-winkle who does all the washing and ironing for the neighbouring animals. Lucie spends a lovely day helping her, and it's only right at the end of the day that she realises Mrs Tiggy-winkle is a hedgehog!
This edition is part of a collection of five books designed by iconic British and Irish fashion designers to celebration the 150th anniversary of Beatrix Potter.
The cover of The Tale of Mrs. Tiggle-Winkle was designed by Orla Kiely - an Irish contemporary designer known for her unique retro prints and designs. Her fashion line has been seen on royalty and celebrities, and she has many brand partnerships for products including mugs, towels, bedding, cookware and more.
Beatrix Potter was born in London in 1866. During her rather lonely childhood and later, as a young woman, she studied art and natural history. She acquired her love and knowledge of the countryside during family holidays, at first in Scotland and then in the Lake District. She started her career as children's author and illustrator in 1901 when she was thirty-five. In the years before the First World War, demand for her work was so great that she was publishing an average of two new stories a year. As she became financially independent, she was able to buy some land in the Lake District and in 1913, on her marriage to solicitor William Heelis, she moved to live there permanently. For the last thirty years of her life, writing and illustrating gave place to a second career as a sheep farmer and countryside conservationist.
Her little books never lost their popularity however and today they sell in their millions, translated into numerous languages, and the pleasures of those timeless tales continue to be enjoyed by children all over the world.
