One of the joys of running an illustration agency, is you never know who's going to get in touch next. On an unremarkable day in 2025, we received a call from the creative team at Jimmy Choo, proposing quite a remarkable collaboration. They'd spotted the work of paper artist Helen Musselwhite and wanted to discuss the idea of her re-imagining the brand’s iconic BON BON bag, as part of their 2026 ‘From the Atelier’ series. The creative touch paper was well and truly lit.
Helen has been at the very top of the paper craft scene for multiple decades now. During that time her work has attracted many admirers and she's worked with some huge brands. Hearing that one of those admirers was Sandra Choi, the Creative Director of Jimmy Choo, was truly a pinch me moment though - who doesn't have a soft spot for a designer handbag?
The project began with Helen creating four elaborate papercraft scenes to represent each of the four seasons. Once approved and built, the scenes, which measured almost a meter tall and wide, was packaged up and sent to Jimmy Choo's head office in London.
Sandra and her team then set about exploring the various ways Helen's work could be re-created in leather, exploring a wide range of techniques. Balancing technical precision with creative expression, the capsule is a study in the metamorphosis of material via crafted manipulation - from paper to leather, sculpture to accessory.
Across all four designs, every element is individually shaped by hand, with all the motifs - from blossoms to butterflies - originating from Helen Musselwhite’s original artwork and recreated using bespoke moulds and intricate hand-stitching techniques. Each design is a celebratory dialogue of the four seasons, capturing the distinct emotion these subtle shifts in nature represent.
Underscoring everything in the capsule collection is the creative dialogue and collaboration between Creative Director Sandra Choi and Helen Musselwhite; united by a shared reverence for craft, materiality and united in their use of nature as an enduring source of inspiration. About the project, Sandra Choi said:
From The Atelier is an opportunity for us to explore design in its purest sense. Allowing us to experiment, to push craftsmanship further, and to celebrate the beauty of making. Nature has always been a powerful reference point in my world, its resilient and evolving beauty something I keep returning to. With this collection, I wanted to capture the emotion of the seasons, translating those moments into pieces that feel precious and enduring. I was so drawn to Helen’s work and how she transforms paper into such animated designs full of feeling. There is such precision and poetry in her process, and I love that it is entirely analogue, built slowly and thoughtfully by hand. That sense of materiality and care felt deeply aligned with our own approach to craftsmanship at Jimmy Choo.
For Spring, the BON BON is reimagined in ‘Peony’ pink leather - a nod to one of Sandra Choi’s favourite flowers - evoking the optimism of new blooms. Summer emerges in pale, sun-bleached tones that capture the effortless ease of long, sun-soaked days. Autumn is expressed through layered detailing and an earthy metallic palette reminiscent of falling leaves, while Winter is rendered in silver leather and metallic accents, evoking frost-tipped flowers and the bare trees of winter. To complete the capsule, a curated selection of shoes will also be available through the brand’s Made-to-Order service.
Laterly, Helen was asked to create additional paper elements for the photoshoot, which were used as props to help bring the bags to life. Expertly shot by still-life photographer Adrien Dubost, the shots brought a wonderful new dimension to the work as product and inspiration became entwined together. Social content was also filmed, including an interview with Sandra Choi in her London office.
The last piece in the puzzle was the in-store launch. For this, Helen created over fifty paper elements, which sat amongst the products in the Bond Street store. The rich greens helped create a strong backdrop for the bags and really made them pop on the shelves.
