Manchester-based art and gift company, Wraptious, will exhibit new lines at Autumn Fair 2016, from a stand in Hall 4, B32, Greetings & Contemporary Gift.
Founded in 2013 by Simon Wadsworth. The aim of Wraptious is to provide a much-needed platform for emerging artists and creatives to get their work seen and “out there,” by promoting their work and selling their designs as a series of high-quality gifts and prints.
The company was started in 2013 by Simon Wadsworth, who (during a particularly boring work meeting) starting scribbling some designs for gift wrap on the back of a post-it. After some encouragement from friends and family, Simon decided to put his graphic design experience to good use, and turn these ideas into a business. He quit his job in London, and moved up to Manchester to create his own gift wrap company…and so Wraptious was born.
Wraptious made its first sale at Castlefield Market in October 2013, and has come a long way in 2.5 years, shifting focus away from gift wrap to other products, including greetings cards, gallery-quality prints and award winning cushions. Wraptious is now stocked in 250 gift shops across the UK and is seeing a year-on-year growth of 400%.
The company is constantly evolving and expanding Wraptious designs and supports over 30 independent artists. New talent is discovered by holding a biannual competition for artists, which have received over 500 entries. Anyone can enter and the winner is decided by customers and stockists who vote for their favorite designs.
All Wraptious products are made in the UK and the ‘Splatter Cushions,’ designed by artist Katherine Williams, recently won the “Gift of the Year Award” in the Home Accessories category.
New for Autumn Fair are cushion designs by Spring Competition winners Ros Dando, Tracey Cooper, and Rhiannon Findlay, whose designs were voted the top three out of 500 entries by our customers and stockists.
You can also see a new greeting card range by Laura Clamp (above right), a winner from the Autumn competition who creates collages from magazines pieced together to create charming, quirky birds designs. Plus a new designs from Wraptious artists Liz Chaderton and Katherine Williams.
