Without the Industrial Revolution, there is no growth of production, no mass consumerism, and no rise of the middle class. Without it, there are no widespread fashion trends, no readily available bonnets for Lydia to purchase on a whim, and no abundance of news, novels, or paper to fuel Austen’s imagination and enable her writing.

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At the heart of Regency England’s fast fashion lies Cromford Mill, a place where raw materials were spun into cotton thread and then woven into fabric. Britain, a global exporter of finished cloth, owes much of its economic and cultural transformation to this process.

With this in mind, I created the strapline: From Derbyshire to the delicate figures of society’s finest. It captures the spirit of this era of mass production and its deep connection to the fabric of Regency life, both literally and figuratively.

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Branding and Storytelling
Cromford Mill is based in Derbyshire, approximately 20 miles from the fictional location of Pemberley House. There were many businesses in Regency Britain with national and international impact. I loved the idea that Austen would have been aware of this one, especially as its owner, Mr Arkwright, was the richest untitled man in the country.

In the Cromford adverts, I show the story of the fabric and the products that could have been made from Cromford’s spun threads. These are .ai-imagined scenes, set against a Derbyshire background. The frame surrounding the models is made of .ai-generated whitework embroidery.