JOEL & MOLLY’S STORY OF HOW THEY STARTED BRITAIN’S NEWEST PYJAMA BRAND

Words from the talented Curious Pear, follow them on Instagram @thecuriouspear

Desmond & Dempsey is founded on a love of life’s little luxuries. And what is more luxurious than the last day of the week?

For The Curious Pear, Sundays mean a stack of magazines (the more low brow, the better) and enough tea to sink a cruise liner. Bread Sundays will see us chowing down for brunch with some of London’s most glittering food, fashion and blogging people, and finding out what makes their Sundays tick.

In our experience, they best way to get to know someone is over a stack of toast and a hangover. And that’s what this column is all about. Stay tuned for carb-fuelled interviews with Desmond & Dempsey’s favourite people in the city!

What better way to begin our spanking new ‘Bread Sundays’ column for Desmond & Dempsey than by interviewing the brains behind the brand itself, Molly Goddard and Joel Jeffery.

The two grew up in separate corners of the globe (Molly in Australia, Joel in England), but met in Canada. Eyes met in a haze of booze, vouchers were spent on dinner dates, and the rest is history.

The two were quick to get down to business, launching their luxury pyjama company in 2014.

Plush, flowing pyjama sets made with cotton hand-milled in Spain, artful, hand-designed prints (painted by Joel’s brother) and airy fits define the D&D aesthetic. What’s more, Joel and Molly’s company was founded on a love affair with Sundays, that breezy day of the week where staying in your PJ’s all day is more than acceptable.

Before discovering D&D, we were more partial to a jam-splattered t-shirt, but now our Sunday’s are looking (very slightly) more elegant.

To launch Bread Sundays, we bedded down in Joel and Molly’s Brixton home amongst Moroccan cushions, a portrait of Vegemite, fresh flowers and whole lot of bread.

Molly donned the beautiful ‘Howie’ pineapple print pyjama set, which was inspired by a friend’s kitchen table growing up, always bursting with fresh food and pineapples. Meanwhile Joel tried not to get pesto all over his ‘Bocas’ trews, which were designed after a trip to Bocas del Toro where Molly became a twitcher…

Over crusty sourdough fresh from Wild Caper and cheese from Salon (all local, naturally), we found out all there is to know about D&D, and what makes their Sundays superb. 

What do your Sundays look like?

Molly: Well, before we started D&D, they were a lot more fun…we used to actually go and do things! Since the company’s taken over our life, it’s a little harder. We do always do a proper breakfast, though.

Joel: We always have eggs on a Sunday. Every time.

Molly: If I ever actually leave Brixton it’s to go to Jose on Bermondsey Street. It is amazing. Sunday afternoons there rock my socks off. It’s casual and cool, but not too cool that it’s uncomfortable to be there.

How do you like your eggs (in the mornin’)?

Molly: I like googy eggs!

Joel:  People don’t know what that is in England…

Molly:  It means runny! The runnier, the better, and on fresh bread. I sometimes make Spanish eggs with tomatoes, chillies and paprika. That’s a good one.

Joel: I also make a baked eggs equivalent. It’s kind of a fluffy omelette and then I sprinkle cheese on top and put in under the grill for a minute. I love that!

Who’s the better cook?

Joel:  Me.

Molly: Well, no…

Do you ever go out for brunch?

Molly: We do, but I feel like I’m always disappointed! Our fave place is definitely Kopapa in Covent Garden. They do things a bit differently there. I like going to places where you can eat things you wouldn’t ever be able to make yourself.

Joel: Yeah definitely. You don’t just want a bit of plain toast with avocado. It’s great at Kopapa, because it’s not too big but you can actually sit down. The smaller places are nice, but I get a bit sick of queuing and then being squished in a corner. 

What’s your favourite place to eat at weekends in Brixton?

Molly: There’s this little café down the road, and the guys who own it have become really good friends. It’s called F Mondays, which is perfect for us because we’re all about Sundays! It’s amazing just being able to roll down there and grab a coffee, and then come back here and have googy eggs!

Joel: Runny eggs…

Molly: The markets around here are amazing. I love Herne Hill. On a Sunday there’s this beautiful farmers market; a proper old school market, not too expensive or trendy. I love it so much!

Joel: We usually buy dinner for the Sunday night from there.

How have your weekends change since you started D&D?

Joel: They’re just filled with more work!

Molly: We work 7 days a week now. But we love it.

Joel: We really do, and it doesn’t always feel like ‘work’ in the traditional sense. We’re going to Florence this weekend, which is technically work but will obviously be incredible in its own right. We go everywhere looking for ideas now, from new cities to exhibitions. It’s all pretty cool.

Molly: It’s work, but it can be leisurely at the weekends. The thing is, we’re so excited by D&D that it’s just fun and enjoyable. On Sundays we do the work we can’t do during the week because it’s so busy. Last week we went to McQueen to search for print inspiration.

What’s it like working as a couple?

Joel: Molly was really nervous when I came on full time; she was worried we’d end up hating each other. So far though, it’s been great!

Molly: We work on such different parts of it that we’re not really in each other’s hair too much. We are together a lot though…

Joel: I try and escape her, but it’s hard…

Why pyjamas?

Molly: I came over to England and was living with Joel and his two guy friends. I used to walk around in these fuddy duddy nighties, and Joel told me to stop walking around the house in these tiny nighties. So I started stealing his shirts and wearing them to bed. I’m really clumsy, so I always used to get stuff down them. It started to get…

Joel: ..Really annoying. And expensive.

Molly: Joel took me to buy some proper PJ’s and I literally couldn’t find any that I liked. And then the only ones I could find were really expensive and had to be dry cleaned. So we started looking into the market and realised there was really a gap in the market for this idea.

What do you do to chill and get away from work?

Molly: We’re slightly workaholic…but no matter what we always sit down and eat together. That’s so important. I like to have a bath while Joel makes the best spag bol ever.

Joel: I like to put a bit of coffee in it. I used to hate cooking, but then I realised it was going to the supermarket that I hated, not the actual cooking!

What’s your favourite bread topping?

Molly: Runny eggs!

Joel: Vegemite. Marmite’s got nothing on Vegemite.