The Bagshaws of St Lucia is a Hand Silk Screened Company

In 1959, Brita & Sydney Bagshaw came to the island on vacation and absolutely fell in love with the people and island of St. Lucia. Sydney was the Art Editor of Reader’s Digest in New York and decided to take early retirement to come down to start his own business. First he decorated calabash bowls with exquisite gold & silver leaf stencil designs and then expanded into silkscreen printing so he could reproduce his own line of original designs on fabric. He created the winning costume for the Carnival Queen competition and his fabrics were featured in the Red Cross Fashion show in 1960. Sydney was the only artist asked to display his work at the small Tourist Bureau building on the dock in Castries. Although the cruise ships were carrying only 100 or more wealthy passengers, those passengers were very keen on finding unique island art work and Sydney’s fame became world wide. His designs on placemats, wall hangings, dresses, skirts, men’s shirts, shorts, etc, were so distinctive that any where in the world that you traveled, people would recognize it was a Bagshaw design.

Sydney passed away in 1984, but fortunately his designs live on with his family carrying on his legacy. In fact, his granddaughter has designed a line of contemporary clothing for adults and children. And his daughter in law, Alice, has expanded the business to include four duty free shops as well as created a tourist attraction by restoring the Upper La Toc Battery, a British military fortification, built in 1888, located near the Bagshaw Studios and is open to the public for tours. That includes a museum with over 900 antique bottles and artifacts, many of which have been brought up from scuba diving off the mouth of the Castries harbor.



Bagshaw designs have been developed into an extensive range of clothing and household items, which are as unique as ever. These original designs, based on the local flowers, birds, and butterflies are only printed in St Lucia and only sold in St Lucia. These are the gifts that even the Prime Minister and the Governor General take when traveling overseas, to present a unique gift of what is most distinctive of St Lucia. We hope you will also visit one of our many popular shops, see the items being hand printed by the Bagshaw team and take something back that will remind you of your romantic trip to the tropics……………and maybe bring you back to the same island that Sydney Bagshaw fell in love with almost 50 years ago!

Here are some testimonials for your review:

"The main Bagshaw's Studio is located at La Toc Bay and is well worth the trip.  The view from there is unbelievable".