ABOUT PERPETUA AND KONSTANTIN

My name is Ceara Lile.  I've been creating and designing things for as long as I can remember. 

 

Perpetua is one half of Perpetua and Konstantin Studios - named after my Slovak partner's grandparents, back in Slovakia.  Perpetua Studio for me, and Konstantin Studio for my partner, Mario.  The studios sit side by side on Fitzherbert St in Featherston, NZ, and embody a place of creativity, community and family.

​

Mario and I dreamed up the concept of these studios while we were travelling around the Far North on our motorbike in 2018.  The more we spoke our ideas to one another, the more sense it made as a way to connect to our home and plant the roots of both our backgrounds in our chosen home of Featherston - and to give us a sense of place, calm and belonging in our work life. 

 

Once we thought of the name/s the idea began to take on a life of its own.

​

Perpetua and Konstantin were hard-working, creative, family-and-community-minded people.  Perpetua crafted handmade linens from scratch with her loom.  Konstantin was a hands-on engineer who built the family home Mario grew up in (and that his family still lives in).  I wish I could have met Perpetua and Konstantin - I think we would have liked each other.

 

Neither are common names in Slovakia (where they were from).  However, both Perpetua and Konstantin mean 'everlasting' or 'constant' and reflect the work that we both do.  The names underscore my drive to create sustainable, timeless and eco-friendly fabrics.  For both of us they relate to the permanence of the art of tattoos in the skin. 

​

We are excited to share our creative home with you!