The World As A Studio: Sophie Coote On How SIR. Finds Its Stories In Cities, Textures And People
For many of us, travel offers escape—a brief slip out of the everyday. But for the creative minds behind SIR, the world is not a getaway from their work; it’s the very place it begins.
Co-founders and designers Nikki Campbell and Sophie Coote have built a brand rooted in movement—across cultures, textures, and the shifting rhythms of place. Their collections are braided with the cities they’ve explored, the fabrics they’ve touched, and the women they’ve observed.
“Collection inspiration can come from anywhere,” says Sophie. “A texture, an artwork, a piece of lace in a vintage store. A story about a creative we come across. Travel is a huge part of our design process.”
Designing In Motion
Every year, Sophie and Nikki map out a global calendar—not of fashion weeks, but of places and cities they haven’t yet seen.
“Our most foundational inspiration always comes from seeing how people live,” says Sophie. “How a city breathes, how its women dress, what the light looks like at sunset.”
Their most recent design trip to Copenhagen crystallised that philosophy. A city shaped by function and freedom, where women dress for movement—layering swimwear, T-shirts, and blazers as they bike from saunas to studios to dinner. At golden hour, the whole city sparkles.
“It was really interesting to see how the women there dress for their whole day,” says Sophie. “The way the city looks at sunset, the warmth, the softness—that really shaped the direction of the collection.”
In Italy, while wandering through a market with her partner, Sophie picked up a scarf that caught her eye. It went on to become their best-selling print of all time.
“You can’t help it,” she laughs. “Even on holiday, you’re noticing details, shapes, colours. I’ll be walking down the street and see someone wearing something interesting and instantly take notes. There are lots of sticky notes and phone memos in our process.”
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When A Place Becomes A Feeling
During a trip to Ibiza, Sophie and Nikki expected the aesthetics—the sea, the sun, the linen. What surprised them was the music. The history, the freedom, the untamable spirit of the island’s soundscape. It shaped their entire new resort collection, Tropicana.
“That feeling of freedom—that’s what inspired us,” Sophie says. “The music, the energy, the colour. It wasn’t what we expected, but once we felt it, the designs changed. There’s this bohemian timelessness in Ibiza that really resonated with us.”
“It’s one of those places you don’t really understand until you go,” she says. “We design for that feeling—that freedom. That ability to be whoever you want. Ibiza gave us that.”
The Poetry Of Fabric
There is a physicality to SIR.’s work—garments that don’t just look good, but feel good. Pieces that move with a woman’s life rather than restrict it.
“Fit, wearability, colour, print—the question is always: does this make a woman feel good?” says Sophie.
Fabric is where that philosophy begins. Natural fibres, tactile textures, rawness where it matters. Fabrics are sourced in tiny local mills or discovered abroad. Silks chosen for drape, linens for breathability and lace for its ability to hold both delicacy and strength.
“We love textures as a business,” she says. “We’ll sit down with all the fabrics we’ve collected—from trips, from our mills—and map out what each one brings to the collection. What becomes a print base, what becomes a colour holder. Everything has a place.”
Behind The Seams
To the outside world, a SIR. dress appears on a hanger as a finished object—timeless, effortless; but behind it sits a process that stretches over a year.
Travel. Creative direction. Storyboarding. Sketching. Patternmaking. Fittings. Refining. Reworking. Release.
From the first spark to the final stitch, it’s a 12–14-month journey.
“We’ll be working on a collection, and at the same time presenting another to international wholesale,” says Sophie. “It’s constant. And when the samples for a new collection arrive, it’s still this mix of excitement and nerves. You’ve worked on something for a year—you want it to resonate.”
Some pieces even become part of SIR.’s mythology, like the Aries dress—a bias-cut lace silhouette loved by thousands of women and a turning point for the brand.
“It’s the one piece people identify with us,” says Sophie. “And it just…works on every woman. That’s always the goal.”
The World As The Work
In the end, SIR’s design process is not about chasing trends. It’s about noticing. Observing. Feeling. It’s about the quiet, attentive act of looking—at women, at places, at textures, at light.
“We’ve never sat down and said, ‘What are the trends this season?’” Sophie says. “Our designs come from the world—from travel, from vintage, from people. It’s more organic. More intuitive.”
And for Sophie, the most revealing behind-the-scenes moment is the simplest: a day inside the SIR design room.
“It gives people a real insight into how much work goes into each piece,” she says. “It’s a big process. And sometimes that gets underestimated.”
But for SIR, that process—the roaming, the researching, the refining—is the point; it’s where meaning lives.
Because clothing, at its best, is not just something to wear. It is a story of where you’ve been, and where you dream of going.
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