Local Lovin': We Are The Robots

In Local Lovin' I will be looking at designers/ stores/ brands/ creators of marvellous things/ anything else that catches my eye - all based in Glasgow. I believe that we should be supporting the talent that we have locally so have decided to start Local Lovin' as a regular feature. If you would like to be featured please get in touch! See my Contact page for details. 

This post has been a long time coming and some of you readers will already be aware of design darlings We Are The Robots (WATR) and their cute, quirky creations. The girls have been appearing at design/ craft fairs at venues such as Hillhead Bookclub, Oran Mor and Chambre 69 for as long as I can remember. I first became aware of WATR when I bought my Sheldon Cooper cameo ring (those 4 words alone just smack of awesomeness, don't they?) from them a couple of years back for a very reasonable couple of quid. The girls were also one of the first brands that I seen using the now-very-popular Scrabble tile motif in their jewellery, and I was drawn to their fun, statement designs using my favourite pop-culture icons (yes, Jim Parsons is an icon, okay?) and nostalgia-tastic items such as lego blocks. Since discovering them for myself, I have also bought a few of their pieces for friends as gifts - even for boys, seeing as some of their designs are suitable for everybody!

I wanted to hear a little more about the thought process behind their designs and the company in general so I caught up with the girls (or, as they are better known, The Robots) who were lovely enough to answer my questions...

When did you start your company and what made you decide to do it?

We have known each other for about 8 years now and met working together for a high street retailer. We became friends and after a while realised we both had crafty/design-based backgrounds and wanted to make our own jewellery.

We set up We Are The Robots (named randomly after a Kraftwerk song!) about 7 years ago and joined the Glasgow Craft Mafia, selling at markets organised by the Mafia and great events like Made In The Shade. For a while we were one of the only Glasgow based kitsch jewellery companies selling at such events.

If you had to sum up the style of your products in a sentence how would you describe it?

We try to make fun, kitsch, but also wearable jewellery, clothing and accessories.

What kinds of things inspire you to create your clothes and accessories?

We’re inspired by all manner of things! From music to pets and everything in between! We tend to design items which we like ourselves! We’re well aware of current trends, what is selling in high street stores, celebrities etc. however, we like to stick to our own designs and stand out from the crowd even if it’s not to everyone’s taste!

What kinds of customers can normally be found shopping at WATR?

It’s obviously hard to tell with online sales however at our stalls our customers are generally young girls and women, aged 16-30.

What have been your favourite pieces so far?

When we started out we sold pixel heart necklaces which we loved (and even had matching tattoos done of them, pictured right) It was always a great feeling being out and about and spotting someone wearing one of them.

In more recent times, we’re particularly fond of our kitten collars and leopard collar chains, also popular with customers.

Finally, Anything coming up soon for WATR?

We have stalls at Ecomunky at Oran Mor 28^th April, and a monthly stall at Granny Would Be Proud in the Hillhead Bookclub.

We have recently joined forces with Made In Glasgow, a platform for Glasgow based artists and designers. As well as featuring on their website we are in talks with them about future events, details of these will be released shortly.

We are updating our website constantly and coming up with new ideas all the time. For anyone interested in keeping up to date, we suggesting “liking” us on facebook or following us on twitter (@wearetherobots_) or instagram! (@wearetherobots).

A big thanks and hi-five to We Are The Robots for being featured in this week's Local Lovin'! I hope you enjoyed reading a bit more about them. I really admire their passion and the thought that goes into their collections, as well as their dedication to going their own way and being themselves (it can be so easy to forget your own principles and it's great that they don't). I look forward to seeing what they come up with in the future, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for them at future craft fairs too!

Have you ever bought anything from We Are The Robots? What is your favourite WATR piece? Do you consider Sheldon Cooper to be an icon? 

Thanks for reading!

*all pictures used courtesy of We Are The Robots*