Growing up on Isle of Palms, Erika Firm, creator of West Coast stationer Delphine Press, saw the sea and dunes with the eyes of a designer from a young age. And although she’s lived in San Diego with her husband for nine years now, she still returns to Lowcountry as often as she can to sketch beachside flora.
In fact, she designed her Sullivan line while sitting on the sand of that local island last summer. Studying dune flowers, she created a signature whimsical bloom to capture the seascape’s breezy romance. Other area spots have informed her works, too. After marrying at Circular Congregational Church downtown in 1999, Erika designed the Meeting Street line. The series, characterized by swirly flourishes, is a nod to her own Big Day.
Erika’s eye for natural beauty and clean design has catapulted Delphine Press into national magazines such as InStyle Weddings, Martha Stewart Weddings, and The Knot. “I try to put timelessness, romance, and beauty into all of my designs,” she says. “And Charleston is all of those things to me. I’m dying to be back there again permanently; it’s where my heart is.”
Find Delphine Press at Settings; call (843) 795-5995 or visit www.settingsllc.com.
The Sullivan
Sullivan’s Island serves as more than a beach location for Erika. It also hosts myriad inspiration for the Sullivan line, which features playful blooms and buds.
The Meeting Street
The wrought iron balcony of the Mills House Hotel (where Erika held her own reception) inspired the evocative curls of this line, named “Meeting Street” after the hotel’s address.
