“For the love of beautiful things—”
Ever since I was a little girl, I have been aesthetically driven. I cherished the softest blankets in colors that matched my room and I would spent countless hours choosing an outfit that brought the energy I wanted to bring on the day of an important test. As an adult, finding earrings that perfectly compliment the color on my dress melts away the stress of the day and I’ve fallen in love with many pairs of heels. For me, life’s opulence lies in its details.
In my search to fill my life with beautiful things, I started collecting vintage at 14. I’ve always been drawn to vintage goods, fashions, music, books for a common feeling they all seem to invoke: remembering a time when life felt slower and things were made with quality, not made to be produced quickly or cheaply but in a way you could tell that each detail was painstakingly considered, a time where things were made to be beautiful rather than to make a sale. Of course I don’t personally have a memory of what it was like to go shopping for coats in 1967, but when I put on a coat I found at someone’s grandmother’s estate sale, I can feel the quality of the fabric, the hours spent on the cut until it was just right. I think about how much this woman must’ve cherished this coat for the condition it’s in, and how she could fondly share with me the memories of celebrations or late nights with friends in it if she were here. I wear the coat thinking maybe someday I’ll have my own reasons to cherish it as much as she did.
Today, things like time, quality, beauty even, are often perceived as luxuries we can’t afford. So I wanted to create a place where time moved a little slower and no detail was ever too small to be overlooked. A place where I could dress myself in velvety cashmeres and delicate laces and have long conversations about a poem I read the other day while sipping from a porcelain teacup. An escape from overwhelming consumption and pages upon pages of plastic marked “flash sale 80% off”. A place where everything was simply beautiful.
I created Ryman’s to feel timeless, where luxury isn’t rare but the standard, a little room to sit in where words are meant to be meditative, color palettes please the eye, and getting dressed is a special occasion in itself, a true dedication to the love of beautiful things.
I invite you to pour yourself a cup of tea and indulge in a piece of luxury with me.
— Imogen
