Just in time for Christmas, Instagram Shopping is coming to the UK with an exclusive pop-up, The Instagram Edit @TheOfficialSelfridges, at Selfridges London. The shoppable space is running from December 5-15 in The Designer Studio on level 3 and features a curated edit of fashion, jewellery, beauty and homeware brands built on Instagram, bringing them to the UK shop floor for the first time.

One brand featured is Atelier Stella, a contemporary handmade ceramics studio known for its stylishly playful vases, planter and homewares. Founder Stella Baggott tells us how Instagram helped her to grow her business from hobby to home of sought-after ceramics.

I used to illustrate children’s books, and I got into ceramics after I signed up for evening classes, just for fun at the start. But I was quickly hooked and spent four years developing my own style. It wasn’t a hobby anymore—I knew I wanted to build my life around ceramics.

I decided to set up my own handmade ceramics studio after nearly all my work sold out at a craft fair. I took the plunge and launched Atelier Stella in 2012. The collection is evolving all the time, but my signature style is the cute but sophisticated smiling faces with long noses and stamped markings that you see on every pot.

It’s incredibly hard to balance keeping creativity at the forefront while dealing with all the business/PR/social media stuff. Instagram really works for me—I can focus on the creative side of my business and share it with my followers.

It’s brilliant for that. I show them what I’m doing in the studio, I can experiment with designs or glaze colours and get instant feedback. I also use Instagram to announce sales and new products, or when favourite pieces are back in stock.

When you’re starting a business you can spend a lot of time on your own, so engagement with your followers feels like hundreds of little cheerleaders who all have your back.

My styled pictures of finished work are popular, but it’s the work in progress, the messy studio shots, that often get the most likes. I think in this age of mass-produced goods people like to see art and crafts being hand-made, all the hard work that goes into it—even if it’s not that pretty.

Both. As a visual person I love to style and photograph my pots with plants and flowers and Instagram is a place to share them, as well as the work of other artists I think my followers would like. I think of my Instagram feed as a bank of images that I often go back to for inspiration. Instagram Stories is so good for sharing images or videos that you haven’t put on your main feed, and its Highlights feature is great for showcasing projects or work in progress.

Visit @atelierstellaceramics and more small brands from our community at The Instagram Edit, in-store at Selfridges London from December 5-15 2019.