Cora + company
A bag can start with a conversation. With a museum, a garden, a musician or someone who sees things a little differently.
From exclusive canvas bags for Tate and Kew Gardens to artist shoots and live embroidery, this is a growing record of what we make together.
Made together
From the Cora archive: Tate Modern.
01 / Tate / Two exclusive designs
Our first exclusive bag for Tate began with the rehanging of David Hockney’s A Bigger Splash. We brought orange, blue and yellow canvas together in a multicoloured edition of our Fonthill utility bag.
It became one of Tate’s most popular bags, in the shop and online, and returned for many repeat production runs.
Next came the Art Bag, a French Utility design created exclusively with Tate. One of our first printed bags, it opened up a different way of working with canvas. That design has since returned for two repeat production runs.
02 / Kew Gardens / Product collaboration
Gardenia began with a brief from Kew Gardens: a small canvas tote with pockets, useful in the garden and versatile enough for other parts of the day. We developed the bag around those requirements.
The result was a compact tote with a place for the things you need close to hand. A practical idea developed together, and the beginning of our Gardenia bag.
Kew Gardens, from the Cora archive.
Young V&A / Shop launch / 2023
When Young V&A reopened in Bethnal Green in July 2023, Cora + Spink launched in the museum shop.
Preparing for the reopening spurred us to look more closely at what went into our bags and reduce their plastic content further. A new place for the bags, and another reason to keep improving how we make them.
Beyond the bag
Sometimes the collaboration is a new design. Sometimes it is a room full of people, a conversation or a name stitched into canvas.
Cora at the London Woo and TikTok event.
03 / WooCommerce & Pressable / Live events
At the London expo, we joined WooCommerce and Pressable to personalise bags in person. People could see the shop working on screen and the embroidery happening in front of them.
Woo also featured Tim in a film about building Cora + Spink. A chance to talk about the bags, the workshop and what growing a small business actually looks like.
04 / TikTok, Woo & Klaviyo / London gathering
Forty embroidered bags joined us at the London gathering hosted by Woo, Klaviyo and TikTok for Business. Names stitched into canvas, good conversations and a table full of people making things happen.
Our part was the bags and the embroidery. The evening is in our September journal.
A creative circle
Portraits, conversations and shared ideas with people who bring their own point of view.
Artist conversations
Bold prints and murals led us to a coffee with Leamington illustrator Emily Kaye. Then came a visit to her station mural, a camera and a bag.
Music & photography
Musician Chubby Cat brought Tiger Bum into a shoot with photographer Shane McGuirk. We shared the pictures and talked music, dogs and the occasional ghost.
Local company
A village pub, shepherd huts and room to slow down. The Bell Inn hosted our team for a lifestyle shoot with bags, boots and a few weekend essentials.
Photography
Bruce brought his own eye to the character and detail of our bags. A photographic collaboration built around the places and moments a bag becomes part of.
Flowers, art & inspiration
Terri and Angus came into the Cora story through their Glasgow shop. Their floral work opened up a conversation about colour, images and the places a small idea can lead.
The next conversation
An exclusive colour, a new use for canvas, a shoot or an event. Tell us what you are thinking and we can work out where it might go.
