Aerende (pronounced a-ren-day) is a new housewares brand in the UK. The launch collection includes hand-carved chopping boards and wooden spoons, neutral, organic linens, luxury handmade soaps, macramé plant hangers, embroidered cushions, simple ceramic tableware, and more.
But what sets this brand apart" The clue is in the name, which is Old English for “care.”
Founder (and ex-travel editor) Emily Mathieson explains: ?The products have to be made by people who don?t have a normal route to selling their goods, and they have to be items I?d want in my own home.? The goods Mathieson sells have each been handcrafted by adults facing social challenges. The soaps, for instance, are made by visually impaired people; the cushions are embroidered by male prisoners; and the linen hand-finished by female refugees. Photography and styling by Anna & Tam.

Above: Mathieson runs the online shop from her home in St Alban’s, Herefordshire, where she lives with her husband and their two young children. On display throughout their home are examples of the products that she has?using her journalistic skills?sourced from social enterprises across the UK.
In the kitchen the chopping boards, from £26 ($31), and wooden spoons, from £17 ($21), are from Fruitful Woods in Edinburgh, a social enterprise for people with mental illnesses. The linen napkin, £9.50 ($12), is stitched by female refugees seeking social integration in the UK. The black poppy a...