On Wednesday night, we gathered at the Crafts Council Gallery in Islington, north London, to mark the launch of Companion #2: Craft.
Set within a restored chapel on Pentonville Road, the gallery is a public space dedicated to bringing craft to life through exhibitions, events and education. The Crafts Council works across the UK to support makers at every stage, from first encounters in schools to established practitioners, helping to create opportunities, build skills and strengthen the wider craft ecosystem. It felt like the right place to bring this issue into the world: a space designed to connect people to craft and to support ongoing conversations about what making means today.
The evening brought together contributors, collaborators, friends of the magazine and wider GAIL’s community. Large-scale panels filled the gallery, each one featuring a story from the issue through photography, illustration and evocative quotes. Outside, street-facing posters with ‘Companion Magazine’ set against ‘Trellis’ by William Morris set the tone for an evening centred on craft.
At the centre of the evening was a panel discussion moderated by Matt Alagiah, with GAIL’s creative director Roy Levy, Companion editor Amanda Schiff and designer Carol Montpart. The conversation revolved around a simple question: why and how does a bakery make a magazine about craft?
For GAIL’s, Companion is a way of stepping outside our own discipline to learn from others. Craft sits at the core of what we do, but we wanted to understand how others define and practise it. As Roy put it, craft is tied to identity and humanity; something expressed through making and shaped by people, choices and context. The magazine exists to listen to how others approach that idea, and to bring those perspectives back into our own work.
Amanda spoke about her approach to editing the issue, for which she drew from her background in film. She described the role of editing as being similar to that of a casting director – bringing together different voices, points of view and disciplines to create something cohesive. Contributors were invited to write personally about their practice, whether that meant working with their hands, adapting traditional skills or navigating new technologies. The result is a deliberately wide view of craft, approached through many different disciplines, from umbrella-making to jewellery, violins to lampshades.
Carol reflected on the process of designing the magazine, and on publishing itself as a form of craft. For her, the success of the issue came from the alignment between editorial, design and creative direction. She spoke about commissioning illustrator and sign-writer Amy Goodwin, whose work appears in the magazine, as a moment where that collaboration came into focus, bringing a living craft practice directly into the pages.
Throughout the discussion, the legacy of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement surfaced as a starting point for the issue: a reminder that craft has long been tied to questions of access and everyday life. The idea that well-made objects should be available and used, rather than held at a distance, continues to shape how we think about our own work.
The issue also came to life through food. Contributor Barclay Bram served borscht with dumplings from his feature in the magazine, with many guests returning for seconds. As people left, they took away tote bags filled with copies of Companion, fresh bread, and tins of Sea Sisters Cornish Sardines with Lamiri Tunisian Harissa, each with a recipe card taken from the magazine, extending the evening beyond the gallery.
Companion #2: Craft is now available in all GAIL’s bakeries and online now.
Photography by Jacob McFadden
