Parmar Superstar

Entrepreneurial mums - hats off to them. As if feeding and calming screaming sprogs wasn’t headache enough, they elect to spend baby downtime dealing with office drama – a sort of Pampers or printers face off. No wonder there are so many groups aiming to support and inspire these wonder women – the true 21st century mothers meeting. Mothers in Business is one such group, where mums from Southwark and Lambeth get together once a month to offer each other business advice, helpful confidences and have some much needed fun. But what’s StyleWillSaveUs.com’s sudden interest in South East London mums? Well, their eco savviness, natch.

Mothers in Business’ green credentials include mum members who work for Enjo the eco cleaning company, a washable nappy company, and Angelique, an organic skincare company. The latest addition to their environmentally friendly gang is Alison Parmar who finds vintage, unloved and discarded furniture, strips it back to its frame and nurtures it back to life by reupholstering it using fabulously luxe fabrics, including Missoni prints and ROMO silks. This revamping of old furniture is our favourite type of enviro chic – brilliantly original, curious, personal and an enterprise that always creates unique products.

Alison’s internet based company www.millyrose.co.uk  has so far reworked solely chairs, and there’s a seductive selection currently on sale, including a miniature Harlequin Harris butterfly print armchair for children, an elegant grey chaise longue with flashes of canary yellow, a stylishly understated 1950s style desk chair, and a Victorian armchair with a bold turquoise floral fabric. The descriptions of each item talk in detail about their vintagey quirks – which reveal both the personality of the pieces, and Alison’s fondness for them. The whole process seems incredibly personal, which lends real character to the project. As well as the ready-to-buy chairs there’s also a “finders seekers” service, which is a passionate country-wide hunt for specific items of furniture that clients are specifically looking to find....

Good for you Original, stylish, made with love – what more could you ask from a chair?

Good for the environment Over 10million reusable pieces of furniture are sent to landfill every year by local authorities – this is INASNITY!! Make a small difference and save furniture from a hammer horror end.

Price from £450

Buy www.millyrose.co.uk ..............................................
Feature writer: Beatrice Hodgkin