Designer dreams with pyjama brand Irregular Sleep Pattern

When product designer Mil Stricevic and former arts television producer Jolene Crawford first moved in together, they couldn’t find any bold graphic bedding that they loved, and the idea for Irregular Sleep Pattern was born. The couple saw a gap in the market for design-led bedding and sleepwear that takes a confident approach to maximalist pattern and colour paired with an attention to detail in fit, cut and tailoring. “Fast forward a couple of years and I was turning 40 and Mil was turning 50; it felt like a good ’now or never’ moment” says Jolene.

The brand – much loved by designers and creatives – is now launching its second collection titled In Your Dreams. This comprises three new prints available as sleepwear and signature reversible duvet sets in two colourways. The couple describe their style as sitting at the intersection of art and utility and since both are musicians, they have incorporated their distinctive taste in music into a new gender-neutral collection that fizzes with energy and optimism.

Jolene describes Chameleon as being “a tip of the hat to jazz legend Herbie Hancock’s 1973 fusion masterpiece Headhunters – this print animates hand-drawn hardware components from a selection of musical instruments in shades of verdant jungle and cayenne pepper." Barbarian hints at a staple from the traditional sleepwear world – Paisley pattern. Here it’s reinvented with a dash of outsize botanicals and vivid blue and olive colourways. “This is actually based on the letter Z – a recurring theme for Irregular Sleep Pattern. Barbarian is named in homage to the epic opening track from our favourite Joan as Police Woman’s collaborative 2021 album with Tony Allen and Dave Okumu" says Mil. Sidewinder is a playful twist on the classic candy stripe. “This pattern plays with three different weights and orientations of stripe in a graphic that is both familiar yet also ‘wrong’. We think it’s guaranteed to put a spring in your step, like the Lee Morgan classic which inspired its name.”

Jolene explains that the ‘irregular’ part of the brand is about the outsized bold nature of the prints, but it also refers to their specific values as an independent design business. “We believe in small batch responsible production, we don’t follow seasons, and we only work with people we actually know as models. We developed the unique cut of our sleepwear – lightly tailored with a nod to workwear – to be both practical and flattering.” Following the Charles Eames maxim, ‘The details are not the details; the details make the product’, Mil and Jolene have worked with an expert plus-size grader based in New York to strengthen the offering of their three largest sizes. “We're here to elevate your sleepwear game!” says Jolene.

Mil Stricevic + Jolene Crawford. Photo: Irregular Sleep Pattern

With well-kent faces like comedian Joe Lycett and cellist Simone Seales wearing their sleepwear on stage, Irregular Sleep Pattern is fast becoming popular as day-wear. “The workwear style construction has meant that lots of people wear our sleepwear during the day and we are always super excited to see photos of ANYONE in our stuff – it still seems slightly surreal that our pyjama dream is out there in the world. For us, one of the real joys of trying to establish this brand is all the friendships we have made through our pyjamas, which tend to attract like-minded people – it feels more like growing a family than running a business!”

To launch the new range, Jolene and Mil wanted to do something special creatively: “All the patterns in the new In Your Dreams’ collection are inspired by music and we always like the idea of collaborating with other creatives. As our name suggests, we like to do things in an irregular way, so rather than using professional models in seductive boudoir poses we try to celebrate the irregular nature of the product in a joyful way. Due to the musical nature of the prints we thought it would be fun to do something with dance and choreography.

“Quite by chance, earlier in the year the artist and movement director Emma Lewis-Jones had offered to model for us, but we wanted to keep her in our back pocket for something bigger. Our brief for Emma was to imagine a cast of sleepers who awake in the night to find themselves in the middle of a slightly hypnotic dance party. It was really fun to discover that Emma had a temporary studio space in the old M&S department store on Sauchiehall Street, so the concept evolved from the opportunities and constraints that this presented, one of which was the discovery of the former cold food store, which has lain empty since the store closed and seemed a great setting for an irregular dance studio/set!"

The couple described how much they value being part of the supportive and friendly Scottish design community; “It feels that there is a growing energy and confidence in the Scottish design voice that doesn’t need to rely on cliches to have export value.”

Next month the Glasgow-based design duo will take Irregular Sleep Pattern to Shoppe Object – a design-led homewares trade fair in New York with the aim of reaching new US wholesale customers. Meanwhile, customers here can fend off the grey Scottish winter with a burst of colour, pattern and joy from day to night via the online shop.

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