last friday i decided to rent a zipcar and head over to van brunt street, the main drag of brooklyn’s red hook neighborhood. i wanted to visit two of my favorite shops, saipua and erie basin, and grab some sweets at baked to take home for the weekend. eric, sarah and russell, kindly invited me in for a tour of their shops so i wanted to share them here today. red hook is a really fantastic neighborhood and has so much to offer- the next time you’re in brooklyn make yourself a reservation at the good fork and spend a few hours before dinner strolling the great shops on van brunt (it’s a great alternative to some of the more trafficked areas of brooklyn). click here for the full post and photo tours or just click “read more” below. (if you just want to check out the full 100+ photo tour first, just click here)
[images above: inside saipua’s red hook shop]
[image above: butterfly wing jewelry at erie basin]
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founded in 1999, saipua is a boutique handmade soap business based in the hudson valley. specializing in olive oil based soaps, saipua derives their name from the finnish word for soap. though based in the hudson valley, saipua sells their incredible hand-cut soaps in various boutiques across the country, including their own shop in the red hook section of brooklyn. housed in a small storefront on van brunt street, saipua’s shop is bursting with incredible flowers, vintage goods and soaps made from natural vegetable oils, butters, herbs and extracts. while the main attraction for some is saipua’s soap selection (their tea soaps are a must-have), for me, their fresh seasonal flower arrangements are my favorite part of the shop. whenever i’m looking to send an arrangement that is truly unique, i turn to saipua. their selection of flowers includes a wide range of seasonal blooms, succulents, wild-growing flowers and less traditional filler like seed pods and branches. beyond loving the actual content of their flower arrangements, i love the unique vessels saipua delivers their work in- there are no cheesy vases here- only special containers that compliment the truly special work within.
with wedding season upon us, owners sarah and eric explained that their most exciting projects for the coming months will be weddings. with a new wedding nearly every weekend for the next three months, i asked sarah and eric what trends they saw among the bridal designs they were creating for clients. “we’re seeing people move away from monotone colors and traditional centerpieces- instead people seem to be embracing earth tones like brown, green and rust.” in addition to a more rustic color palette, sarah noted that there seems to be in increased interest in using succulents in arrangements (which can act as gifts for guests and will last long after the big day) and creating non-traditional centerpieces using small collections of objects like bottles, jars, fruit and nuts. these wedding day “still lifes” are being topped-off with more unusual foliage, wild flowers and vines, and plant-cuttings.
partners in work and life, sarah and eric recently started sharing a home together. when i asked them what their wedding flowers might look like if they ever walked down the aisle sarah said, “eric would want a lot of cacti, anything prickly. but i’d love peonies- they’re my favorite.” if you’re interested in checking out sarah and eric’s shop in person, just walk, bike or catch a cab over to 392 van brunt street. the shop itself is lovely enough to warrant a trip and once you spend some time with the shop cat (darla) and catch the scent of their incredible soaps and flowers, you’ll see why they’ve become a local favorite. click here for more the rest of my photos of saipua- there are at least a dozen more flower-filled shots.
[images above: eric and sarah of saipua]
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opened in november of 2006, erie basin is hands down my favorite jewelry store in all of brooklyn (if not all of new york city as well). owned and curated by russell whitmore, erie basin houses an expertly edited collection of vintage (and a small selection of modern) jewelry, home accessories and curiosities. focusing on “19th and early 20th century jewelry and objects with contemporary stylistic and cultural relevance”, russell visits fleamarkets and antique stores across the country to find new pieces for the shop. though the jewelry and objects at erie basin are incredibly beautiful, russell explains that, for him, the history of an object is just as important as the way it looks. “people seem to be increasingly receptive to jewelry and objects that have sentimental value to them, as well as a unique look. the victorian-era sensibility that admired unusual materials and non-traditional construction techniques seems to be popular again, and people seem to be interested in thar sort of dark romanticism behind objects.”
in addition to beautiful vintage pieces, russell carries a great selection of modern work as well. when i asked what he saw as some current trends in jewelry design, russell mentioned an increase is dark black jewelry and a focus on non-traditional materials. one of his favorite designers working in this vein is natalia brilli (whose work is available on erie basin’s website right here), who recently introduced a made with burnt wooden beads.
another trend russell is seeing is the use of human hair in jewelry. despite the fact that hair has been used in jewelry for some time, russell explained that while hair-jewelry was once a hard sell, it is now becoming more popular at the shop. i know the idea of jewelry made from hair will give some people a big case of the creeps, but i think what’s interesting behind this trend is its connection to the sense of nostalgia and history russell mentioned before. few things are as intimate and sensitive as a lock of a person’s hair- so using materials like this in jewelry really brings a sense of personal history to an object.
whether he’s focusing on scouting new designs for the shop or discovering new contemporary designers, russell’s shop continues to grow in popularity and acclaim across the country. when asked what exciting projects he had coming up for the summer, russell was most excited about taking on his first employee. having run the shop on his own for the past two years, he will now have some weekend help and time to travel and find new objects for the shop. much like saipua above, russell will be attending a handful of weddings this summer. while he won’t be handling the floral arrangements for them, he is looking forward to visiting cities area like northern minnesota and rhode island- where he hopes to find interesting objects to add to the growing collection at erie basin. to see the rest of my erie basin photo tour click here.
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thank you to sarah and eric at saipua and russell at erie basin for welcoming me into their shops- i hope you’ll all have time to visit them the next time you’re in brooklyn.