Celebrate the Women Who Inspire Us
In the lead up to Mother's Day, we take a moment to reflect on the influential women and modern heroines in our lives, each one inspiring us in their own unique way.
Our founder, Lorna, honours 3 women in her life who have been a source of love, support and guidance while demonstrating that strength can come in many different forms.
Lorna’s mum, Moira, was born just before the outbreak of World War II, in an era when uncertainty and hardship shaped her early life. Between the ages of 4 and 10, her mum learned the importance of community, supporting one another and the joy that can be found in life’s small, humble moments. These experiences taught her to confront challenges with grace and fortitude, and shaped her with the quiet strength and inner resilience that we celebrate as a family, as we look forward to her 90th birthday.
Dorothy Hogg, MBE, was a world-renowned craftswoman, and head of Edinburgh College of Art’s Jewellery and Silversmithing Department for almost 20 years. She was Lorna’s head tutor during her 5 years at university, and continued to guide and mentor Lorna until her untimely passing 2 years ago. Dorothy's support and influence extended way beyond her teaching; inspiring Lorna to build her crafts-founded career in the luxury goods industry, and then encouraging her to establish STELAR. Through Dorothy’s mentorship, Lorna learned to embrace the collective spirit of craftsmanship, community, and culture that STELAR celebrates today.
Ibu Nyoman, mother of Wayan Durpa—STELAR’s first master artisan — has been another incredible influence. From the very first day Lorna met Ibu Nyoman, she was welcomed with warmth into her humble home in East Bali, and taught how their family have been weaving with atta grass, a natural plant fibre indigenous to Bali, for 5 generations. Witnessing these incredible ancestral skills first-hand inspired Lorna to establish STELAR and launch our first collection of unique, handcrafted and enduring basket bags. During their time working together, Ibu Nyoman also invited Lorna to join her in the kitchen, teaching her to make ‘kelor’, a special regional curry made from moringa leaves. To this day, the entire STELAR team eagerly anticipates each visit to Wayan’s home, where they always sit down to enjoy a meal of ‘kelor’ together.
In their own distinctive ways, each of these women have made a profound imprint in Lorna’s life; reminding us all of the nurturing power of the feminine spirit, and the resilience that upholds us as a community.